Private equity (PE) investment in Southeast Asia fell sharply in the second quarter of 2026, with 10 deals worth $935.5 million, compared with 19 deals worth $9.2 billion in the previous quarter, according to the EY-Parthenon‘s Southeast Asia Private Equity Pulse for Q2/2026 report.
Deal volume fell 55 percent and deal value declined 58 percent year-on-year, the report showed.
In a statement regarding the report, EY said capital deployment was concentrated in mid-market transactions, with only one investment exceeding $500 million and no deals above $1 billion. The real estate sector accounted for 90.8 percent of total deal value, driven largely by a single transaction that secured $850 million in additional equity capital from existing shareholders.
The real estate sector outpaced technology at 5.3 percent and consumer at 2.2 percent of the total deal value.
The largest single investment in the quarter was a $850 million equity injection into Singapore’s ESR Group in real estate, led by Warburg Pincus and Sixth Street. The second largest was a $50 million investment by Apis Partners into BIPO Service Singapore Pte Ltd in technology, followed by a $20.5 million investment by Asia Partners Fund Management and Panther Mountain Capital into Singapore’s Little Farms Group in the consumer sector.
Against the subdued investment environment, exits recorded the strongest liquidity conditions since the first quarter of 2022, with 11 exits generating $4.2 billion in proceeds. Aggregate exit value more than tripled year-on-year despite exit volume remaining unchanged. Fundraising remained muted, with only one fund close recorded in the quarter.
On exits, the largest was Cuscaden Peak Investments, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, exiting Singapore’s Paragon in real estate for $3.027 billion. Blackstone exited Singapore’s Interplex Datacom in infrastructure for $900 million, and Dymon Asia Private Equity exited Singapore’s Newark in industrials for $136.8 million.
In the private debt market, Southeast Asia recorded one fund close raising $320 million in Q2/2026. The report notes that the Asia-Pacific private debt market is expanding beyond traditional direct lending into asset-backed finance, specialty finance, capital solutions, and private debt secondaries. The expansion took place while Southeast Asia remains fragmented due to diverse regulatory regimes, legal systems, and varying levels of capital market development across jurisdictions, EY emphasized.
Luke Pais, EY-Parthenon ASEAN Private Equity Leader, said PE activity in Southeast Asia remained selective amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The improving exit activity provides an encouraging signal for capital recycling and a more constructive outlook for sponsors in the quarters ahead.
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