Southeast Asia deals fall from $1.6b to $936m in H1 2026

Wealth and asset management reached 8 transactions.

Mergers and acquisitions in Asia and Oceania's financial services sector slowed in the first half of 2026, with deal numbers down 14% year-on-year.

The region recorded 147 publicly disclosed deals, against 170 in the same period last year, while total disclosed deal value slipped from $17.8b to $15.8b, according to the latest analysis from EY.

Southeast Asia bucked the wider regional slowdown. The number of disclosed deals in the sector held steady at 31, unchanged from a year earlier, though total disclosed deal value nearly halved, falling from $1.6b in H1 2025 to $936m in H1 2026.

Stuart Last, EY-Parthenon Partner for Financial Services at Ernst & Young Solutions LLP, said the flat deal count in Southeast Asia showed investors staying active despite economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

He noted that activity had concentrated in smaller and mid-sized transactions, pointing to a disciplined, strategy-led approach to dealmaking, and said a pickup in larger deals was expected in the second half of the year as financing conditions improve and more scaled assets reach the market.

Within Southeast Asia, activity varied by sub-sector. Banking and capital markets deal volume fell from 20 to 14, with deal value dropping from $1.1b to $669m. 

Insurance deal volume rose slightly from eight to nine, though deal value fell from $478m to $123m. Wealth and asset management saw the sharpest volume increase, up from three deals to eight, with deal value climbing from $0.8m to $145m.

Cross-border interest in the region also shifted. The number of non-Southeast Asian firms acquiring Southeast Asian targets fell from seven to five, but the total disclosed value of these deals rose from $344m to $410m. 

Last year, this suggested international investors continued to see opportunities in the region despite the broader macroeconomic backdrop.

Across Asia and Oceania as a whole, banking and capital markets deal volume fell from 87 to 77, though deal value rose from $6.4b to $11.3b. 

Insurance deal volume dropped from 41 to 31, with value declining from $5.0b to $2.1b. Wealth and asset management volume fell from 42 to 39, and value dropped sharply from $6.5b to $2.4b.

Foreign acquisitions of Asian and Oceanian targets increased, with the number of deals by non-Asian and Oceanian firms rising from 23 to 28 and disclosed value up from $1.6b to $1.9b. 

Asian and Oceanian firms acquiring targets elsewhere stayed flat at 14 deals, but the value of those deals dropped from $11.8b to $1.1b.

Globally, financial services M&A activity rose 3% year-on-year to 1,137 disclosed deals in H1 2026, up from 1,101 a year earlier. 

Total disclosed value fell, however, from $191.3b to $134.5b, with 25 megadeals above $1b accounting for 80% of total value, compared with 37 such deals in H1 2025.

Omar Ali, EY Global Financial Services Leader, said firms had adjusted to operating with heightened uncertainty, but that slower global growth, rising inflation and ongoing supply shocks were weighing on larger transactions. 

He said fewer deals had crossed the $1b mark this year, though he expects dealmaking to pick up in the second half as boards look to M&A to drive growth and transformation.