Asia tech dealmaking rises as big companies buy AI and fintech firms

In short: Big companies in Asia are buying more tech firms, and many deals focus on AI features and regulated fintech businesses.

What's going on

Asia’s tech sector is seeing strong merger and acquisition activity, meaning one company buys another. In 2025, 658 tech deals were announced, up 22% from the year before, and the highest number in a decade. The momentum has continued into early 2026.

Most of these deals are being driven by “strategic” buyers, which are regular companies buying other companies to grow, not investment funds. Strategic buyers made up 91% of deals. Private equity firms, which are investment groups that buy businesses and try to improve and resell them, completed 58 acquisitions.

Deal values that were made public totaled $26.6 billion, nearly triple 2024 levels. Still, only 29% of deals disclosed their price, suggesting buyers and sellers are cautious about public valuations.

The busiest areas include IT services and consulting, fintech and payments, gaming, and marketing technology, meaning software that helps companies reach customers. Fintech firms with regulatory licenses are especially attractive, because a license can act like a passport that lets a company operate legally across borders. Many buyers are also looking for applied AI, especially “generative AI” (AI that can produce text or images), to automate everyday work tasks like customer support and internal reporting.

Recent examples include Naver’s deal for Dunamu in South Korea and HC’s acquisition of Chin Data in China.

What to watch

With venture funding still tight, buying a company is becoming a main path for growth and cash-outs in Asia tech. Watch whether more deals stay private on pricing, and whether AI features become a standard requirement, like adding power steering to a new car.

Source: Financial Times