Asia-Pacific firms 'taking lead on power mergers and acquisitions'

Companies in the Asia-Pacific region and other emerging markets are increasingly moving into a favourable position in terms of power sector merger and acquisition (M&A) deals.

This is according to research published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which reveals that a six-year European dominance of the M&A arena is coming to an end, due in large part to the weakening of the euro.

As the single currency's value fell and its future became more clouded in 2011, Asia-Pacific buyers and sellers accounted for the largest number of deals during the year, with valuations in Europe dropping as a result.

According to PwC, more European power companies are likely to divest business units in the coming year as they seek to strengthen their balance sheets.

Andrew McCrosson, partner for UK power and utilities at PwC, said: "We're going to see some interesting new partnerships in the years ahead as companies intensify their relationships with alternative sources of funding."

This comes after a recent Ernst & Young report suggested that global trade balances are generally seeing a shift from east to west.