Australasian Legal Business Online reports that M&A volumes and values were significantly down on figures posted in 2011, with Allens partner Alex Ding describing the year as disappointing and his Herbert Smith Freehills counterpart Tony Damian adding that  2012 was characterised by deals taking longer than usual.
Mr Damian commented: ‘There were deals to be done, but they took a long time … On occasions, it took the better part of a year to get something done. Companies have not felt under pressure to get out there and lead the charge.’

Sophisticated deals

However, he was hopeful that the trend at the end of this year of ‘sophisticated’ deals coming out of Chinese investors would carry into 2013.
King & Wood Mallesons partner David Eliakim told the publication that he expects to see increased interest in some fields. ‘There has been a fair pipeline of opportunistic public M&A,’ he said.
Mr Eliakim also commented on the increasing disparity between what bidders were willing to pay and sellers were willing to accept. ‘We are seeing a continuing valuation gap between bidder and target expectations, he said. ‘This is leading to a number of standoffs, particularly in the private equity space.’
The optimistic sense for next year was summed by Mr Damian, who said: ‘I think the volume of deals will be higher. There have been a lot of things sitting on the side-lines that make sense and I expect to see them arrive in 2013.’