Singapore investment banking activities generated US$786.7 million ($1.06 billion) in fees so far this year, down 34% y-o-y and the lowest annual total since 2018. This is according to Refinitiv’s Singapore Investment Banking Review for 2022, a report of investment banking activities in Singapore for the year.
Equity capital markets underwriting (ECM) fees fell to a four-year low of US$115.8 million, down 60% y-o-y, while debt capital markets (DCM) fees declined 26% from last year to US$128.6 million.
Meanwhile, advisory fees earned in Singapore from completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions reached US$292.6 million, down 22% from 2021, and syndicated lending fees declined 29% y-o-y to US$249.6 million.
Based on preliminary data, DBS is in pole position for Singapore’s investment banking fees in 2022 with a total of US$90.5 million, taking up 11.5% wallet share of the total fee pool. DBS remains in top spot from the end of 2021 despite a 38% y-o-y decrease in fees.
On the other hand, Morgan Stanley saw its investment banking fees increase 30% y-o-y to US$53.1 million, jumping from ninth position last year to runners up in 2022.
Refinitiv is a London Stock Exchange Group business. It is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure.
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Equity Capital Markets
ECM issuance raised US$2.7 billion so far this year, a 79.5% decline in proceeds compared to 2021.
Singapore companies raised US$68.7 million via initial public offering (IPO), down 96.5% compared to a year ago, as the number of IPOs fell 30.8% year-on-year.
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Follow-on offerings amounted to US$2.67 billion in proceeds, down 67.6% compared to last year.
Real estate accounted for 79.4% of Singapore’s ECM proceeds, amounting to US$2.17 billion — down 44.0% y-o-y. Industrials and materials followed with 11.3% and 4.5% market share, respectively.
DBS currently leads the Singapore ECM underwriting with US$1.7 billion in related proceeds and 62.2% market share in 2022, based on preliminary data.
Debt Capital Markets
Primary bond offerings from Singapore issuers raised US$28.2 billion so far this year, a 33.5% decline in proceeds compared to last year, making it the lowest annual total since 2020.
Singaporean companies from the financial sector captured 55.3% market share and raised US$15.6 billion, down 30.4% from 2021.
Government and agencies followed with 24.1% market share, totalling US$6.8 billion in proceeds, down 8.9% y-o-y.
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ESG-related (green, social, sustainability & sustainability-linked) bonds from Singaporean issuers raised US$6.5 billion, down 4.9% from last year and accounted for 23% of the total Singapore-issued bond proceeds so far this year.
DBS leads the Singapore-domiciled bonds underwriting league table with US$4.2 billion in related proceeds, capturing 15.0% market share based on preliminary data,
Mergers & Acquisitions
Overall Singaporean involvement for announced M&A amounted to US$119.5 billion this year, a 37.5% decline after a record high in 2021, making it the lowest period by value since 2020.
The pending acquisition of Store Capital Corp by GIC and Oak Street Real Estate Cap in a US$13.8 billion transaction is currently the biggest deal involving Singapore so far this year.
Singapore-targeted M&A reached US$40.0 billion, down 58.9% y-o-y, while domestic M&A activity fell to a four-year low, amounting to only US$14.8 billion, down 55.5% from 2021.
Inbound M&A activity reached US$25.3 billion, a 60.7 % decline from 2021, while outbound M&A dropped 6.5% y-o-y and saw US$56.0 billion worth of announced deals.
The majority of the deal-making activity involving Singapore targeted the real estate sector, accounting for 29.4% market share of the deal making activity involving Singapore and totalled US$35.1 billion, down 28.0% y-o-y,
Financials followed with US$26.2 billion, accounting for 21.9% market share, up 14.9% from a year ago. Energy and power rounded out the top three with 11.4% market share, while high-technology, which saw the greatest number of deals, accounted for 10.2% market share.
Based on preliminary data, Goldman Sachs currently leads among Singapore-involved announced M&A, with US$26.9 billion in related deal value and capturing 22.5% market share.
