Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory

Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory

De-risk the M&A path to your business expansion.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) offer companies a fast track to growth, new markets, and expanded capabilities. However, executing M&A transactions in Asia requires deep local knowledge, cross-disciplinary expertise, and careful coordination to manage risk and align with strategic goals. From identifying targets to navigating due diligence and integration, businesses must manage both opportunity and complexity.

Dezan Shira & Associates offers comprehensive M&A advisory services to support clients throughout the entire deal cycle. We assist with target screening, financial and legal due diligence, valuation analysis, and cross-functional integration planning. Whether buying, selling, or entering a joint venture, we provide practical, in-market support through our regional teams and international liaison offices. Our expertise spans legal, tax, finance, HR, and IT, enabling us to guide clients through deal structuring, negotiations, and post-acquisition alignment—ensuring that each transaction is positioned for long-term success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Our Advantage

How We Can Help Your Business

We help clients refine M&A objectives and screen suitable opportunities based on market, financial, and strategic fit.

  • Buy- and sell-side target identification
  • Strategic alignment and risk profiling
  • Local market validation

Our proprietary M&A portal allows clients to list and search deals with added visibility and vetting by our advisory teams.

  • Confidential listing and target posting
  • Buyer/seller matching via the Dezan Shira network
  • Deal validation by local experts

We conduct multidisciplinary due diligence to assess financial health, regulatory standing, contractual obligations, and HR structures.

  • Financial statement and tax review
  • Corporate and legal risk assessments
  • HR, compliance, and operational due diligence

Our experts assist with structuring transactions to maximize value, manage liability, and ensure regulatory compliance.

  • SPA and transaction structure advisory
  • Tax-efficient deal planning
  • Cross-border regulatory alignment

We help align acquired operations with your group structure through planning and coordination across HR, legal, finance, and IT.

  • Integration roadmap development
  • Entity consolidation and HR planning
  • Technology and reporting integration

We assist in managing jurisdiction-specific filings, government approvals, and compliance documentation for deal execution.

  • Entity change registration
  • Foreign investment and anti-monopoly filings
  • Licensing and corporate restructuring

Dezan Shira & Associates provides M&A guidance and support throughout all stages of the M&A process and covers many of the technical aspects. Our blended capabilities can provide a quicker, more thorough as well as effective planning and implementation process, to better position you to realize the outcomes that you are targeting

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Benchmark economic, regulatory, and market conditions across Asia to identify the most competitive locations for growth and investment.

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FAQs – Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory

We support both buy-side and sell-side clients across the full M&A lifecycle—from initial strategy to post-deal execution. Our services include target search and outreach, valuation advisory, due diligence coordination, regulatory approvals, tax structuring, and post-merger integration planning. We operate across Asia’s key investment hubs with localized expertise and regional execution capabilities.

We provide end-to-end or stage-specific support depending on client needs:

  • Target screening, market entry mapping, and investor search
  • Valuation modeling, synergy estimation, and benchmarking
  • Due diligence (financial, legal, tax, HR, IT)
  • Term sheet guidance and SPA negotiation
  • Post-deal integration and risk mitigation planning

We have strong experience with mid-market deals, typically valued between US$2M–US$75M, across:

  • Manufacturing and consumer goods
  • Logistics and infrastructure
  • Healthcare, medtech, and pharmaceuticals
  • Professional services and technology
  • Renewable energy and education

Our sector knowledge supports faster risk identification and targeted buyer-seller engagement.

Asia’s regulatory environment is fragmented and fast-changing. We guide investors through approval pathways by identifying sector-specific restrictions, managing licensing timelines, and structuring ownership models to comply with equity caps. Our in-country legal teams help ensure timelines are realistic and filings are complete—especially in restricted or negative list sectors.

Our M&A projects are led by senior advisors and staffed with multidisciplinary specialists. For complex deals, we also collaborate with external partners:

  • Local legal counsel for transaction structuring
  • Tax experts for deal modeling and liability planning
  • Banks or brokers (when needed) for financing or escrow management
  • In-house project managers to coordinate deliverables and timelines

Yes, tax structuring is a core part of our advisory. We help design holding structures, dividend strategies, and IP ownership arrangements that reduce leakage and comply with local and international tax laws. This includes planning for withholding taxes, transfer pricing, and treaty benefits across jurisdictions.

Most transactions take 4–9 months depending on deal complexity, regulatory approval needs, and counterpart readiness.

  • Initial phases (scoping, outreach, NDA execution) – 4–6 weeks
  • Due diligence and valuation – 6–10 weeks
  • Negotiation, SPA finalization, and closing – 8–12+ weeks

Timelines may be shorter or longer in highly regulated industries.

Yes. We help clients operationalize the deal thesis by aligning people, systems, and reporting lines after the transaction closes. This includes setting up entity structures, harmonizing payroll and finance, reviewing internal controls, and ensuring compliance with local labor and tax laws in each location.

We maintain strict confidentiality through NDAs and virtual data room protocols:

  • Controlled access to sensitive documents
  • Staged disclosure across deal phases
  • Internal segregation of project teams
  • Guidance on communication protocols with employees or vendors

Our team also helps manage perception and timing around public announcements or regulatory disclosures.

Our Clients

Discover our esteemed global clients across diverse sectors. We believe in providing our clients with exceptional service and a commitment to being their partner for growth in Asia.

See what our clients say about us

Contact Our Experts

Vivian Mao
Partner
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David Stepat
Country Director, Singapore
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Get in touch

We provide expert advisory and corporate services across Asia, guiding businesses through complex markets and regulations.

Have Any Questions?

Reach out to our local experts, we’ll respond within one business day.

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