Singapore, October 5:

Mid-sized mergers and acquisitions were expected to flourish across emerging Asia with China the market leader, followed by India, a report by a consulting and auditing firm said today.

Asia’s mid-market deals currently make up more than 20 per cent of the wo-rld’s total, according to the Deloitte report. The volume of mid-sized deals, defined as $50 million to $250 million, has grown tenfold in the past four years, it added.

While interest-rate worries and lending concerns could stem the surge in large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the mid-market deals have demonstrated strong resilience, Deloitte said.

“We expect the M&A market in the Asia-Pacific to continue to grow due to strong fundamentals and robust growth in this region,” The Business Times quoted CEO Chaly Mah as saying. “Many investors are buying into a piece of the action in fast-growing economies like China, India and Vietnam.” China accounts for more than 40 per cent of all mid-market deals in Asia. The country’s foreign exchange surplus represents massive potential spending power for outbound cross-border deals, the report stated.

India accounts for 13 per cent, the next single-largest contributor. The subcontinent is a growing force, Deloitte said, with Indian firms increasingly ambitious in looking outside.

Southeast Asia as a group outranks India, making up a third of the total market. Singapore is the largest contributor, accounting for 10 per cent of the volume of mid-market mergers and acquisitions, it stated.

The underlying reason for the expansion of Asian mid-market deals in recent years has been growing domestic demand, Deloitte said. Going forward, the main driver of change would be the financial, legal and trade liberalisation of the region’s economies, it predicted.