A 2024 investment banking review launched by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) excluding Japan has reported that the US$20.3 billion ($27.7 billion) worth of investment fees generated in the region were down 11% compared to last year, marking the lowest annual period since 2019.
Fees generated in the APAC region excluding Japan accounted for 17% of the total fees earned globally, while investment banking (IB) fees from the Americas and Europe accounted for 54% and 23% respectively.
In 2024, equity capital markets underwriting fees reached the lowest period since 2013 at US$3.7 billion, down 36% y-o-y. Meanwhile, debt capital markets fees saw a 5% increase from a year ago to US$12.1 billion, while syndicated lending fees fell 13% y-o-y to US$2.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the estimated advisory fees earned in the region from completed merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions reached US$2.2 billion, down 24% compared to 2023. China International Trust Investment Corporation (CICT) took the top position for overall investment banking fees in APAC, excluding Japan, with a total of US$1.1 billion, accounting for 5.5% wallet share of the total APAC IB fee pool.
Deal-making activity in the APAC region excluding Japan grew by 4.6% y-o-y to US$734.1 billion, while quarterly volumes have shown continuous growth despite a slow start to 2024. Although the number of announced deals fell 8.2% y-o-y, target APAC M&A stood at US$610.7 billion, up 0.9% from a year ago.
By value, most activity was targeted at the financial sector, which accounted for 16.3% market share worth US$119.3 billion, up 23.6% y-o-y. While industrials totalled US$106.4 billion, down 18.9% y-o-y, capturing 14.5% market share. High technology, which saw the greatest number of deals, followed with a 13.2% market share or US$96.8 billion in deal value, up 16.3% from 2023.
See also: NRIC numbers alone cannot be used to effect payment and fund transfers: ABS
In terms of deal value, energy and power, consumer products and services, healthcare, telecommunications, as well as media and entertainment saw double-digit percentage growth from last year. Private equity-backed deals in APAC grew 29.1% y-o-y to US$114.2 billion, the highest since 2022, despite a 33.2% drop in the number of deals.
Global IPOs falls to over decade-low
On equity capital markets (ECM), equity and equity-related offerings in the APAC region excluding Japan raised a total of US$190.9 billion in 2024, down 11.9% y-o-y, making it the lowest period since 2013.
See also: Final Basel III reforms focus on CET 1 ratio denominator
By specific countries, India’s ECM activity hit an all-time high and captured 37.9% market share, followed by China, Australia and South Korea with 31.2%, 10.5% and 6.1% market share, respectively.
On the other hand, initial public offerings (IPO) fell by 12.0% to more than a decade-low, raising US$45.2 billion, down 33.1% from 2023. Notably, APAC IPOs accounted for 40% of the global IPO proceeds.
Follow-on offerings dropped to an 11-year low and raised US$116.6 billion, down 4.0% from last year, despite the 7.3% increase in number of follow-ons as deals were done in smaller sizes. Convertibles raised US$29.1 billion, up 4.8% y-o-y, but the number of convertibles fell 51.7%.
Industrials raised US$39.7 billion, capturing 20.8% of the region’s ECM proceeds, down 7.2% from a year ago. High technology and financials rounded out the top three sectors, securing 18.3% and 11.7% of the market share, respectively. Citibank took the lead in APAC’s ECM underwriting rankings with a 7.3% market share and US$13.97 billion in related proceeds.
China accounted for majority of APAC bonds
Finally, primary bond offerings from APAC-domiciled issuers raised US$4.4 trillion in bond proceeds in 2024, surpassing last year’s record high by 11.4%, while the number of bonds also grew 10.9% y-o-y.
Of the region, China accounted for 81.7% of bond proceeds worth US$3.6 trillion, 11.0% higher y-o-y, followed by South Korea with 6.3% market share as bond proceeds grew 12.5% y-o-y to US$281.5 billion. Australia rounded out the top three and accounted for 4.4% market share as proceeds reached US$195.5 billion, up 17.6% y-o-y.
Meanwhile, bond offerings from the government and agencies captured 43.7% of the market share, raising US$1.9 trillion, 5.6% higher from the previous year. Financials accounted for 35.3% of the region’s bond proceeds and totaled US$1.6 trillion, up 15.1% compared to 2023. Industrials followed with 8.7% market share worth US$387.5 billion, up 19.4% y-o-y. Energy and power also saw a 34.3% growth in bond proceeds compared to 2023.
Once again, CITIC leads the APAC-issued bonds underwriting, representing 6.3% market share with related proceeds of US$279.7 billion.
