, Singapore
Photo from Shutterstock

Investment banking fees jump 38% in H1 2025: report

Citi led the market with $72.9m (US$54m) in fees, capturing a 12.5% share.

Singapore’s investment banking sector recorded a strong first half in 2025, with total fees rising by 38% YoY to $583.47m (US$432.2m), according to LSEG’s latest Investment Banking Review.

Citi led the market with $72.9m (US$54m) in fees, capturing a 12.5% share.

The growth was driven by broad-based gains across advisory and capital markets activities. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory fees surged 132% to $230.99m (US$171.1m). 

Equity capital markets (ECM) fees grew by 117% to $102.87m (US$76.2m), whilst debt capital markets (DCM) fees climbed 49% to $109.08m (US$80.8m). Syndicated lending was the only major segment to decline, with fees dropping 31% to $140.4m (US$104m).

Total M&A activity involving Singapore reached $47.52b (US$35.2b), up 3.2% from the same period last year. Target Singapore M&A rose 69.7% to $22.01b (US$16.3b), and inbound M&A grew 71.9% to $15.12b (US$11.2b).

Outbound M&A fell 28.4% to $10.53b (US$7.8b). The high technology sector led M&A value with $7.97b (US$5.9b) in deals. JP Morgan was the top M&A advisor, handling $5b (US$3.7b) in transactions.

Equity capital markets rebounded strongly, raising $4.19b (US$3.1b) in total proceeds—an increase of 367% year-on-year. There were 16 initial public offerings, which collectively raised $658.26m (US$487.6m), up 722% from a year ago.

Most listings occurred outside Singapore, notably in Hong Kong and the United States. The technology sector dominated, accounting for 61.5% of ECM volume. HSBC, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley tied as the top ECM underwriters.

Debt capital market issuance totaled $25.52b (US$18.9b), the highest first-half figure since 2021. Financial institutions led the segment with $17.82b (US$13.2b) in issuance, followed by government and agencies with $3.51b (US$2.6b), and real estate with $1.62b (US$1.2b), a 271.2% increase for the sector. DBS Group ranked as the top DCM bookrunner, leading $3.11b (US$2.3b) worth of deals.

Amongst the notable transactions, the largest equity deal was a $2.03b (US$1.5b) convertible issuance by Grab Holdings Ltd, while the biggest M&A transaction was Baidu’s $2.84b (US$2.1b) acquisition of JOYY Inc’s live streaming business.
 

Join Asian Banking & Finance community
Since you're here...

...there are many ways you can work with us to advertise your company and connect to your customers. Our team can help you dight and create an advertising campaign, in print and digital, on this website and in print magazine.

We can also organize a real life or digital event for you and find thought leader speakers as well as industry leaders, who could be your potential partners, to join the event. We also run some awards programmes which give you an opportunity to be recognized for your achievements during the year and you can join this as a participant or a sponsor.

Let us help you drive your business forward with a good partnership!