HONG KONG—Buyout funds are set to extend a record spending spree in Asia to the rest of the year but they will be mostly seeking deals outside China, where concerns about the economy are likely to outweigh any easing of a regulatory crackdown, dealmakers said.
Private equity mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in Asia, not including Japan, posted a record start to the year with $167.4 billion spent since Jan. 1 in markets such as Australia, according to data from Dealogic.
Buyouts in China, Asia’s biggest market for deals, however, slowed sharply in 2022, as the two-month Shanghai lockdown and other coronavirus-related restrictions in many parts of the country hurt the economy and brought potential transactions to a grinding halt….