In a news story published in the Business Times on 22 February 2019 on the M&A trends for 2019, Joint Managing Partner and Head of Corporate Stefanie Yuen Thio said: “Real estate will continue to be a feature because that’s the Singapore investor’s usual obsession.”

She also noted the large-format M&A deal activity had slowed down last year due to geopolitical conditions such as uncertainty with market volatility, the US-China trade situation and Brexit, and the good number of privatisations that have already taken place in years prior.

On the drop in interest from the Chinese mainland, Ms Yuen Thio said: “They had their investment wings clipped by the floundering Chinese economy and the Chinese government’s measures to clamp down on offshore acquisitions.”

Ms Yuen Thio additionally noted companies have been making “more thoughtful acquisitions, driven by business needs and commercial expansion”.

She said: “While this is not the sexy M&A market that investment banks like, it does mean that businessmen are actively looking for ways to broaden their business.”

More details in here (BT Paywall).