Domestic M&As to offer better prospects, says PwC

PwC forecast that domestic strategic mergers and acquisitions may become a relatively bright spot for China, as the country is focused on stimulating its economy, while soft M&A activity will extend to the second half of 2019 if uncertainties remain unclear.

The value of M&A deals made by domestic strategic buyers increased by 8 percent from $131.3 billion in the second half of 2018 to $142.3 billion in the first half of 2019, mitigating sharp falls in outbound and private equity (PE) deals to a certain extent. The volume of domestic strategic M&As also rose 12 percent over the same period, said PwC, a world leading accounting, auditing and assurance firm, in a report issued on Monday.

"With outbound opportunities limited and the US-China trade dispute in play, China's renewed focus on its domestic economy drove an increase of domestic strategic M&As both in deal value and volume," said George Lu, PwC's outbound deals leader for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. "We saw a number of large transactions and reorganization in the industrials sector during the last six months. Besides, the consumer, high technology and healthcare sectors were quite active."