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.