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Mergers and Acquisition Trends in Malaysia

Chiu Hoh Yan [Director, Corporate Advisory]

Tracking Malaysia’s M&A Scene

The past three years have been very challenging for the Malaysian economy. It started with the drop in oil prices coupled with the weakening of the Malaysian Ringgit against the US Dollar in Q4 of 2014, then came the effects of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in April 2015. In addition, the Malaysian economy also faced increased pressures from concerns over political uncertainty.

Mirroring the poor market sentiments, we saw a significant 25% drop in the number of competed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Malaysia to 254 in 2014 from a high of 338 in 2013. Although 2015 saw a slight uptick in M&As, the completed M&As in 2016 was the lowest over the past five years at 236 with a reported value of RM34.3 billion versus a reported value of RM68.1 billion at the peak in 2012.

In 2012 and 2013, the consumer sector led the way in M&As.However, the M&A market participants shifted their focus to the financial sector in 2014 and 2015. Although there was a decrease in M&A activity in 2016, 55% of the total transactions were in the consumer and financial sectors. Overall, the number of transacted M&As reported has been on the decline since 2012. Continue reading >>>