A report by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) titled ‘Singapore’s investment banking review’ for 2024 has painted a colourful picture for the nation’s investment banking sector.
In the year, fees surged to an estimated US$660.6 million ($823.1 million), an impressive 14% rise compared to the previous year. This growth was fuelled by a diverse array of activities. Equity capital markets contributed US$108.7 million, a 42% increase, matched by a similar surge in debt capital markets fees, which also climbed 42% to US$106.4 million.
While advisory fees from completed merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions dropped 27% y-o-y to US$163.1 million, syndicated lending conversely grew 40%, to a total of US$282.5 million.
DBS Group emerged as the leader, claiming a 9.1% share of the fee pool with earnings of US$59.9 million.
The M&A renaissance
In 2024, Singapore-related M&A activity rebounded dramatically, reaching US$82 billion, a 41.1% leap in value compared to 2023. However, the number of deals declined by around 26.3%, reflecting a concentration of activity in higher-value transactions. Notably, 16 deals exceeded US$1 billion, collectively valued at US$35.1 billion, more than double the figure from the previous year.
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Targeted M&As within Singapore surged 58.2% y-o-y to US$27.8 billion, while domestic deals doubled to US$12.97 billion. Inbound M&A, representing foreign investments into Singapore, totaled US$14.9 billion, up 29.1%. Outbound M&A activity, however, fell to a seven-year low of US$26.7 billion, slipping 3.4%.
The real estate sector made up the lion’s share, accounting for 19.1% of activity by value, with deals rocketing 112.3% y-o-y to US$15.7 billion. The financial sector followed closely, capturing an 18.8% share at US$15.4 billion, while the materials sector, not unlike real estate, rose at 378.3% y-o-y to $8.9 billion.
Morgan Stanley led the charge in M&A activity, claiming a 16.5% share of the market with US$13.6 billion in related deal value in 2024.
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Equity markets gain ground
The equity capital markets in Singapore also showed renewed interest, raising US$3.4 billion, a modest 6.5% y-o-y increase from 2023. Follow-on offerings by Singaporean companies accounted for the majority at US$2.7 billion, though this represented a slight decline of 2.4%.
The initial public offering (IPO) scene, however, proved livelier, with 17 new listings raising US$152.3 million, up 37.8% y-o-y. Most of these IPOs were launched overseas, particularly in the US, where 12 offerings accounted for US$109.8 million. On the domestic front, the Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine’s (SIAM) $19.45 million catalist board IPO was the largest of the year.
Real estate issuers dominated equity capital market proceeds, accounting for 60.9% of the total at US$2 billion, a 75% increase y-o-y. High technology issuers posted a 119.9% rise to US$570.8 million, while industrials captured a 10.9% share.
In 2024, JP Morgan took the lead in the Singapore-domiciled equity, equity-linked underwriting league table with US$536.9 million in related proceeds, capturing 16.0% of the market share.
Debt markets roar back
Finally, in debt capital markets, Singaporean issuers raised US$31.1 billion, a 48.9% surge from 2023.
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The financial sector dominated, generating US$17.7 billion and capturing 56.8% of the market. Meanwhile, the government and agencies raised US$7.2 billion, a 72.2% jump y-o-y, while companies in the industrials sector saw a more modest 15.5% rise y-o-y to US$2.6 billion.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) related bonds gained significant traction, with 15 issues totaling US$6.2 billion, a 47.6% increase, marking the highest annual total since 2021. Notably, these green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds accounted for a fifth of all Singapore-issued bond proceeds.
Once again, DBS Group stood out, leading the bonds underwriting league table with US$4.5 billion in proceeds, securing a 14.5% market share.
