Singapore’s Japan M&A tops annual record by April at $2.65bn

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s acquisition activity in Japan has already hit an all-time annual high this year, thanks to a splashy deal by sovereign wealth fund GIC, as a cheap yen and a large interest rate gap lure private buyers.

As of April 13, Singapore-based companies had inked four M&A deals with Japanese targets totaling $2.65 billion so far this year, data from Refinitiv shows. This marks a third straight year above $1 billion — and only the third year over $2 billion since 1992.