South-east Asia to see more private equity deals this year; healthcare, data centres in the spotlight

A RECOVERY in the region’s private equity (PE) market last year has spurred optimism among key players in 2025, as they expect investors that had held back previously to unleash their buying power in a lower interest-rate environment.

In data provided to The Business Times ahead of its official announcement, EY shows the number of PE deals in South-east Asia increased to 67 in 2024, the highest since 2018 when it began tracking the numbers. The total US$15.8 billion in capital deployed last year – more than treble the US$4.9 billion in 2023 – was the highest since 2021.

Singapore accounted for the lion’s share of the market, at 45 per cent by both deal value and volume. These include 2024’s largest infrastructure deal in the region – a S$1.75 billion investment by KKR and Singtel in data-centre provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in June.

Of the three biggest PE transactions in South-east Asia last year, only the largest was not domiciled in Singapore. That was the US$3.1 billion takeover of Malaysia Airport Holdings by a consortium comprising the country’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and BlackRock announced in May.

The transaction’s closure has been delayed until Feb 4, partly because of political resistance against the bid amid boycott campaigns against some US companies over the Gaza war.