2021 was a bumper year for public and private M&A activity regionally and we expect that 2022 will follow suit. On the public front, a further increase in private equity-backed privatisation activity by founders of Chinese and regional companies (particularly for companies listed in the US and often coupled with a re-listing back ‘home' in Hong Kong or the PRC) is anticipated. Significant momentum will continue to build in the deSPAC market; a consequence of the record volumes of SPAC IPO funds raised in 2021. With so many SPACs chasing relatively few attractive business combinations, the high rate of public shareholder redemptions and the difficulties in attracting PIPE investment, deal terms will continue to diverge and we may start to see SPAC consortia coming together to execute the larger deals. The levels of dry powder in the PE and VC space coupled with the macro-economic environment and its impact on valuations will continue to fuel a significant amount of private M&A activity in 2022.
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