According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, "blockbuster acquisitions of U.S. assets by Chinese and Japanese companies in January made it the busiest start to the year for Asia's deal makers on record. M&A volume in the Asian-Pacific region rose 60% to $67.2 billion from a year earlier, and the volume of Asian companies buying companies in other regions more than tripled to $24.8 billion, according to Dealogic, in no small part due to Suntory Holdings Ltd.'s$13.6 billion all-cash deal to acquire Beam Inc., the second-largest maker of American whiskey and owner of Jim Beam".
"Also in January, China's Lenovo Group Ltd. pulled off two multibillion-dollar deals in the space of a week, buying International Business Machines Corp.'slow-end server business for $2.3 billion in cash and stock and Google's Inc. handset business for $2.91 billion. Last week, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. bought a controlling interest in South Africa'sStandard Bank Group Ltd. 's global markets business for $765 million.
But M&A activity in Southeast Asia, which had seen a substantial pickup in deal activity in recent years, is faltering. Investors seeking higher returns had flocked to emerging markets over the past few years but that is drying up now that the U.S. Federal Reserve has started tapering its bond-buying program. With political turmoil in Thailand, the region's second-largest economy, and uncertainties ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in the region's biggest economy Indonesia, it doesn't look like the region will regain its glory days anytime soon".
'Do people want to do deals in Southeast Asia?' The answer is yes. If the question is 'Do they want to do it in 2014?' That's a question mark, watch this space."
The deal boom in Indonesia started to fizzle last year, following new regulations that limited foreign investors to taking a maximum initial stake of 40% in domestic banks and capped foreign ownership of mining assets to less than 50%. Concerns about the country's economics have also weighed heavily on the rupiah, which is down around 19% against the U.S. dollar since the middle of last year.
There is still hope for Southeast Asia—its economies are still growing at a faster pace than much of the developed world. Japanese firms, for example, have been eager acquirers of assets in the region and that hasn't changed just yet.
'Do people want to do deals in Southeast Asia?' The answer is yes. If the question is 'Do they want to do it in 2014?' That's a question mark, watch this space."
The deal boom in Indonesia started to fizzle last year, following new regulations that limited foreign investors to taking a maximum initial stake of 40% in domestic banks and capped foreign ownership of mining assets to less than 50%. Concerns about the country's economics have also weighed heavily on the rupiah, which is down around 19% against the U.S. dollar since the middle of last year.
There is still hope for Southeast Asia—its economies are still growing at a faster pace than much of the developed world. Japanese firms, for example, have been eager acquirers of assets in the region and that hasn't changed just yet.
