Total private-equity investment value in Asia has returned to 2006 levels

While the private-equity business remains in the doldrums in much of the world, the Asia–Pacific region stands out as an exception. A recent McKinsey report, Private equity Asia–Pacific: Is the boom back?, shows that in 2011, Asia was the world’s only major region where these firms’ total investment values returned to 2006 levels—a total of some $65 billion (exhibit). At 21 percent of global deal values, Asia’s share of the private-equity business is now close to matching Asia’s share of global GDP: 28 percent. Yet the gap between the two figures leaves substantial room for growth: on average, the ratio of private-equity investment to GDP among Asian countries is less than half that of the United States or the United Kingdom.

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