Goldman Sachs sees buyout opportunities in Japan, South Korea, Australia
Goldman’s Asia buyout push points to more deal work in Japan, Korea and Australia, where reform, carveouts and M&A are already pulling in capital.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Stephanie Hui said Japan, South Korea and Australia offer a lot of buyout opportunities, a signal that could ripple through deal teams, coverage bankers and support staff across Goldman’s Asia franchise. She made the comment in Singapore at Reuters NEXT Asia, where the July 9 program gathered roughly 350 to 400 policymakers, business leaders and forward thinkers and put artificial intelligence and regional market strategy near the center of the agenda.
The timing matters inside Goldman because the same event paired Hui’s comments with a separate discussion on AI investing from Bain Capital Japan chief strategist Satoshi Ueyama. Ueyama said his team is looking for AI-enabled winners and is wary that not every AI investment will pay off. He rejoined Bain Capital in 2026 after previously serving as a founding partner at Janchor Partners, a reminder that the region’s investment conversations are increasingly blending technology selection with old-fashioned control-investing discipline.
Japan is the clearest example of why buyout work may keep building. J.P. Morgan said Japan-related M&A reached $385.9 billion in 2025, public activist campaigns rose about 90% from the prior year, and public M&A accounted for more than half of Asia Pacific’s deal count. For Goldman bankers, that mix points to more board-level conversations, more cross-border execution and more occasions to bring in financing, legal and diligence teams when listed companies or sponsors decide to sell, split up or relist assets.
South Korea is shaping up as another source of sustained private equity work. Carlyle has said the market is the fourth-largest buyout market in Asia by deal value, and that high inheritance taxes plus newer corporate reforms are creating opportunity. PitchBook said South Korea’s total private capital deal value fell to $16 billion in 2025 from $24 billion in 2024, but carveouts tied to chaebol restructuring have become a notable source of deal flow. That combination usually means more complicated transactions, more structuring work and more travel between Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore and global sponsor offices.
Australia is also staying busy enough to keep regional deal teams occupied. PwC estimated Australian M&A deal value at US$79.5 billion in 2025 and said about 40% of local CEOs plan to drive transformation through M&A and partnerships over the next 12 months. PwC also expects private capital to accelerate portfolio rotations and exits. Bain’s Asia-Pacific private equity report adds that exit value rebounded for a second consecutive year and net cash flows to investors turned positive for the first time since 2021, even as fundraising remained softer. For Goldman employees, that points to a market where sourcing, execution and exit planning could keep creating visibility for the teams closest to the flow.
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