What’s Driving Cross-Border M&A in APAC?
New research highlights the forces reshaping deal activity and investment across the region.
Mischa Mulligan
Intralinks Tokyo Office Sales Director
From my vantage point in Japan, Asia Pacific (APAC) is proving to be a resilient market for cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As global dealmakers navigate geopolitical change, shifting capital flows and growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related assets, Asia has emerged as the strongest region for inbound cross-border investment, with deal value already reaching 80 percent of last year’s total.
That momentum is particularly notable against a changing global M&A backdrop. Our new report, The New Geography of Cross-Border M&A, featuring data from PitchBook, shows that while overall deal volume remains below last year’s pace, deal value is recovering more quickly. Nearly 60 percent of 2025’s total deal value has already been reached, with fewer but larger transactions reshaping the market.
In the video below, I look at what these trends mean for dealmakers in APAC and how the forces influencing global M&A are playing out across the region.
APAC in a shifting global deal market
One important change is the growing influence of corporate acquirers. As many private equity (PE) firms continue to navigate fundraising and refinancing challenges, corporate buyers are pursuing larger, more strategic investments. They now account for nearly 75 percent of global M&A capital invested this year, compared with less than 60 percent in 2025.
For APAC dealmakers, these changes are unfolding alongside evolving geopolitical dynamics and demand for AI-related assets, both of which are influencing where global capital is flowing. This creates opportunities, but cross-border transactions also bring additional legal, regulatory, language and time-zone complexities.
Purpose-built dealmaking platforms such as Intralinks DealCentre AI™ can help connect geographically dispersed teams, documents and workflows so transactions keep moving efficiently.
For anyone evaluating cross-border opportunities in APAC, understanding these shifts — who is investing, where capital is moving and how transactions are changing — will be increasingly important.
Watch the video for my perspective on the APAC market, then download The New Geography of Cross-Border M&A for a closer look at the trends shaping cross-border activity globally in 2026.
