Investment banking fees hit three-year high in Q1 as M&A value surges

LSEG data showed fees rose 8.2% to $240.9m, whilst deal values jumped to a record $66.6b despite lower volumes.

Singapore’s investment banking fees rose to $240.9m (USD187.8m) in the first quarter of 2026, up 8.2% year on year (YoY) and the highest first-quarter total in three years, according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Deals Intelligence Singapore Investment Banking Review report for the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.

Advisory fees from completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions declined 48.5% to $46.6m (USD36.2m), the lowest year-to-date level since 2020.

Equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting fees increased more than seven-fold to $73.8m (USD57.33m), whilst debt capital markets (DCM) fees fell 42.0% to $45.7m (USD35.5m) following 2025’s high base. Syndicated lending fees rose 69.9% to $75.6m (USD58.76m).

Citigroup led the investment banking fee league table with $30.8m (USD23.9m), accounting for a 12.7% share.

M&A involving Singapore reached $66.4b (USD51.6b) in Q1 2026, more than doubling from a year earlier to a record high, whilst deal volume fell 33.5% to the lowest level since 2015.

Five transactions above $1.3b (USD1b) contributed $53.4b (USD41.5b), representing over 80% of total activity.

Target Singapore M&A totalled $13.9b (USD10.8b), up 94.2% YoY, whilst domestic M&A rose to $9.3b (USD7.2b), the strongest first-quarter result since 2020. The largest deal involving a Singaporean target was the $6.7b (USD5.2b) acquisition of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) by KKR and Singtel.

Inbound M&A increased 6.6% to $4.5b (USD3.5b) whilst outbound M&A reached $43.4b (USD33.7b), supported by a $42.5b (USD30b) funding round in Anthropic led by GIC.

By sector, High Technology accounted for 74.4% of M&A value at $49.4b (USD38.4b), followed by Telecommunications at $5.02b (USD3.9b) and Real Estate at $3.0b (USD2.3b).

Morgan Stanley topped the announced M&A league table for any Singaporean involvement with $10.7b (USD8.3b) in related deals.

ECM activity totalled $3.5b (USD2.7b) in proceeds, a ten-fold increase from the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025) and the highest start since 2013. The number of issues rose 33.3% YoY. Follow-on offerings raised $1.9b (USD1.5b), a seven-year high.

Three IPOs by Singaporean companies raised $1,021.6m (USD791.9m), the highest first-quarter total in 13 years, with all listings completed on the local bourse.

Real Estate issuers accounted for 81.5% of proceeds at $2.8b (USD2.2b), followed by High Technology at $501.7m (USD388.9m) and Healthcare at $119.1m (USD92.3m).

DBS Group led the equity underwriting league table with $728.1m (USD564.4m) in related proceeds.

Debt capital markets (DCM) activity saw Singapore-domiciled issuers raise $11.4b (USD8.8b) from primary bond offerings, down 30.7% YoY, with issuance volume falling 30.0% to a three-year low.

Financials accounted for 72.8% of issuance at $8.1b (USD6.3b), followed by Government & Agencies at $2.2b (USD1.7b) and Industrials at $502.6m (USD389.6m).

DBS Group also led the bonds underwriting league table with $728.1m (USD564.4m) in proceeds, representing a 21.1% market share.

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