Investment banking heats up as Singapore M&A hits $104.3b

Transaction count dropped 32.4% in Q3 to a record-low 186 announced transactions.

Morgan Stanley led Singapore’s investment banking league table for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first nine months of 2026, as deal value involving the city-state rose 98.2% year on year to $104.3b, according to the London Stock Exchange Group.

The total was the highest for the first nine months of a year since 2021, supported by strong activity in the first quarter.

Morgan Stanley advised on $14.9b worth of Singapore-related transactions, giving it a 14.2% market share. 

Citi ranked second with $9.5b in related deal value, followed by JP Morgan with $9.4b.

Deal activity slowed after the first quarter. M&A value fell 9.9% quarter-on-quarter to $24.1b in the third quarter, marking a second consecutive quarterly decline.

Despite the slowdown, third-quarter deal value was still 34.2% higher than a year earlier. The number of announced transactions fell 32.4% to 186, the lowest quarterly total on record.

M&A targeting Singapore companies reached $39.2b during the nine-month period, up 88.5% year on year and the highest in five years.

This included the $5.2b acquisition of STT GDC by KKR and Singtel.

Domestic M&A more than doubled to $16.1b, whilst inbound deals rose 55.2% to $23.2b.

Outbound M&A reached a record $46.3b, more than three times the level recorded a year earlier.

LSEG said the increase was driven by GIC’s participation in Anthropic’s $30b funding round in February, which was the largest transaction involving Asia-Pacific so far this year.

Technology accounted for the largest share of Singapore-related M&A by value, with $47.7b in announced deals, or 45.8% of the total.

Real estate followed with $12.3b, or an 11.8% share, whilst financial companies accounted for $12.1b, or 11.6%.