A report by consultancy Bain & Company shows that deal value was up 44 per cent to US$125bn – around twice the five-year average and setting a new record. After surging 194 percent in 2014, deal value in Greater China grew another 56 percent last year to $69bn, accounting for about half the region's total. India and South Korea also posted record deal flow, while activity ebbed in Southeast Asia and Japan. 

Deal count shot up 34 per cent to 955, breaking the 900 mark for the first time ever. Average deal size set a new record too, ballooning to US$131m, 45 per cent higher than the five-year average. 

‘Last year was an exceptional year for deal-making.  By comparison, 2016 will likely be much softer,’ said Suvir Varma, who leads Bain's Private Equity Practice in Asia-Pacific.  ‘As the macro story across the region deteriorates, PE is wading into unfamiliar territory – a slower growth environment that will make it much more difficult to find good companies, improve their performance and exit them at market-beating returns.’