High early-stage M&A activity in APAC in Q416

• Early-stage mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is showing the highest increase at 44% compared to the same period last year
• India outperforms other APAC countries with yyear-over-year (YoY) growth of 100%
• Globally, 1H 17 M&A announcements are expected to increase by 6%

Source: Intralinks. Cover for the report.

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor, a forecast of future M&A announcements, predicts a 6% increase in the total number of M&A deals to be announced globally in 1H17 compared to 1H16, setting a new record in the number of global announced deals in the first half of a year.

The APAC region, with 44% YoY growth in early-stage M&A activity in Q416, is the top performing region for early-stage M&A activity, and is set to contribute heavily to 1H17’s expected record deal count. Strong performances from India, Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan are predicted. This level of YoY growth in early-stage M&A activity is the highest in APAC for almost five years. In terms of sectors, financials, consumer & retail and healthcare will fuel the growth in APAC M&A deals announced in Q217.

“While almost all parts of APAC showed double-digit YoY growth, India once again proved to be the fastest growing country in the region, a position it has held for three consecutive quarters, with YoY growth of 100%,” said Philip Whitchelo, VP Strategy and Product Marketing at Intralinks.

"Other parts of APAC contributing to the significant growth that we are seeing in early-stage M&A activity include Southeast Asia which is up 49%, Australia up 47%, and Japan up 33%."

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the number of future M&A deal announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity – sell side M&A transactions across the world that are in preparation or have reached the due diligence stage. These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement. The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor has been independently verified by Decision Economics as an accurate predictor of future changes in the global number of announced M&A transactions.

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Project leaders who can communicate in high demand in Singapore

JobTech has identified the most sought-after skills by employers in the info-communications technology (ICT) sector in Singapore. The top five technical and soft skills/traits in the ICT sector were identified and ranked based on the number of unique job postings that employers were seeking from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2016.

Top skills demanded by Singapore ICT sector employers

No	Technical skills	% share of all unique job postings in the ICT sector	Soft skills/ traits	% share of all unique job postings in the ICT sector
1	Project management	> 10%	Communication/ interpersonal	> 95%
2	C++	> 10%	Analytical/ problem-solving	> 40%
3	C	> 10%	Self-motivated/ proactive	> 20%
4	SQL	> 5%	Leadership	> 20%
5	Java	> 5%	Customer service	> 15%

The data shows high demand for a common set of soft skills/traits within the ICT sector, with communication/interpersonal skills being sought after by more than 95% of all unique job postings in the sector, followed by analytical/problem-solving skills, which make up close to half of the demand. Given that communication/interpersonal skills are required by almost all job postings in the ICT sector, they are probably viewed as a hygiene factor* for employment, Jobtech said.

JobTech also notes that there is great variability in the demand for technical skills within the sector. JobTech has identified at least 20 different types of programming languages that are widely demanded in the ICT sector today, including the four in the top technical skills listed.


*A hygiene factor, or 'dis-satisfiers', first mentioned by Frederick Herzberg in his motivation theory, is something that does not make an employee happier at a workplace, but would cause dissatisfaction if it is missing.  

Early-stage M&As slowing down in SEA, Korea

Early-stage mergers & acquisitions (M&A) announcements are expected to be flat in Q416 compared to the same period last year due to reduced levels of early-stage M&A activity in Southeast Asia and South Korea, according to the latest Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor (DFP) report* released by Intralinks Holdings. Intralinks is a global provider of software and services, including virtual data rooms (VDRs), for managing M&A transactions.

Specifically, Southeast Asia which includes Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, is demonstrating a 47.8% decrease, while North Asia which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea, is showing an 8.3% decline in early-stage M&A activity. While the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is reflecting flat growth, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is in positive territory at 15.7%.

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor shows the following growth in early-stage M&A activity in APAC compared to the same period last year:

· Southeast Asia (which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), is down 47.8%;

· North Asia (which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea) is down 8.3% due to declining levels of early-stage M&A activity in South Korea;

· India is up 64.7%;

· Japan is up 5.9%, and

· Australia is up 6.9%, its first quarter of growth after four consecutive quarters of flat or declining activity.

Looking at early-stage M&A activity by sector across APAC, the materials (which includes metals and mining) and industrials sectors are the only ones showing positive growth in early-stage M&A activity. The telecommunications, media & technology sector has a 46.2% compared to the same period last year.

According to a “post-Brexit” survey of over 1,000 global deal-makers conducted by Intralinks between July 4 and 8 2016, over 61% of APAC dealmakers feel Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have a positive or no economic impact on the APAC region. In the four weeks since the UK’s EU Referendum on June 23 2016, early-stage M&A activity in APAC, as measured by the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor, has increased by 1.4% compared to the same period last year, showing little or no immediate impact on the APAC region’s M&A activity.

“Southeast Asia is seeing its first decline in early-stage M&A activity after nine quarters of mostly double-digit growth,” said Philip Whitchelo, VP of strategy & product marketing at Intralinks. “The impact of China’s gradual economic slowdown may be starting to impact the previously resilient ASEAN region, as South Korea and China are also showing declines.”

Interested?

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*The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the volume of future M&A deal announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity - M&A transactions across the world that are in the preparation stage or have reached the due diligence stage. These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement. The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor has been independently verified as an accurate predictor of future changes in the global number of announced M&A transactions.