Carey Olsen's Anthony McKenzie shares 2022 outlook with Asian Legal Business

Speaking to Asian Legal Business as part of its 'Outlook From Offshore' feature, which appeared in the publication's November edition, Anthony said his confidence for a busy 2022 aligned with the most recent forecast by the International Monetary Fund that the Asia economy would grow by 5.7% in 2022 compared with 4.9% for the world.

"We expect the investors in the region will continue to allocate investment capital to alternatives," said Anthony.

"There are record levels of dry powder in the Asia-Pacific region, and we will see continued growth in private equity with funds focusing on the region for fundraising and deal-flow. The venture capital space is particularly active, with Southeast Asian managers launching a number of new funds."

He also believes that for all its technological progress so far, Asia can drive even more innovation in this area, particularly in relation to Asian tech deals or the launch of tech funds in 2022.

"There a number of transformational trends converging in Asia, some of which have been accelerated by the pandemic that could unleash the next wave of growth opportunities for offshore firms. Tech-focused M&A transactions in particular are powering ahead because of how the pandemic has accelerated technological adoption and innovation right across society."

The feature, which also includes Anthony's views on the continued use of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), regulatory developments in China and the offshore legal market in Asia, can be read in full in the November digital edition of Asian Legal Business.