As part of KPMG International's Consumer & Retail M&A Outlook 2021: Revival beyond the precipice, we examine 14 geographies around the world and examine the market data, deal trends and overarching themes impacting the sector.
2020 Themes
- M&A started recovering post May, with inbound interest from Japan, USA, China and Private Equity targeting destinations of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Philippines.
- Singapore continues to be a hub for many global C&R companies across SE Asia and ASPAC.
- South East Asia’s largest deal - US$10.6 bn Thailand hypermart/supermarket sale demonstrates long term confidence in retail is continuing, despite Covid.
2019-2020
Deal Volume
and Value
234 deals (↓4% YoY)
US$17B (↑335% YoY)1
The following chart shows possible point deal activity was impacted by COVID-19 led restrictions.
2021 M&A Outlook
- ASEAN as a whole is accelerating albeit now at different rates given some strong Covid responses in Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.
- Recently, in a first, Singapore approved lab grown meat for consumer sale. As a hub for ecofriendly meat solutions, we expect continued interest in these early stage ventures in Singapore; as well as broader packaged food suppliers regionally.2
- Retailers are expected to consolidate/grow their position in the online ecosystem by entering adjacent markets and building end-to-end capabilities such as finance, distribution, logistics and supply chain. With rumors of regional super-app mergers and e-marketplace firms in consortia winning digital banking licenses end-to-end consolidation will take place.
- Private Equity, US and JP investors continue to see opportunities from demographic plays in consumer foods and retail. Large companies, as they undergo strategic reviews, may also look for a better owner in SE Asia for their assets.
SE Asia is getting more and more attention from the global players and Singapore remains the entry point to this market.
Footnotes
1 KPMG analysis, Thomson Deals, accessed on 5 Jan 2021
2 Singapore Approves a Lab-Grown Meat; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/business/singapore-lab-meat.html
Further reading
To view the Global C&R M&A Trends report or view other countries
