M&As seal the endgame for Singapore's graduating startups

"The market can expect a minimum of 250 M&As annually from 2020.

Singapore businesses that have achieved enough scale to graduate from the startup scene have been steadily maintaining the trend towards M&As as their main exit route instead of going public like their counterparts in US and China, proving that acquisitions continue to be the main growth engine of startup exits in Southeast Asia.

A minimum of 250 M&A’s are expected to take place in the region each year from 2020, reflecting a 500% increase in M&A exits from the number expected in the 2015 to 2020 period, according to an earlier report by venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures.

The report added there have only been 11 tech IPOs in SEA in 2005 to 2016 whilst there have been 127 acquisitions over the same period as the VC firm pointed out that there have been 145% more M&As than flotations in the past ten years."

You can read more here.