Bank of America Securities is the leader in the fee table, with a total of $48.5 million in investment banking fees, or a 27.5 percent wallet share of the total fee pool, followed by J.P. Morgan ($23.9 million) and Deutsche Bank ($11.9 million).
The industry registered $176.5 million in fees in Singapore in the first quarter of the year – a 79 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv.
Advisory fees for completed M&A in the first quarter was 362.3 percent up from the year before, at $68.5 million, while DCM underwriting fees grew 91 percent from 2019, totaling $43.8 million. ECM underwriting fees fell 42.6 percent from the same period last year to $17.1 million, while syndicated lending fees increased 51.5 percent year-on-year to $47.2 million.
M&As Slow
Overall Singapore announced M&A activity was 31.6 percent lower compared to the first quarter of 2020, reaching $16.5 billion, while Singapore-targeted M&A activity amounted to $2.2 billion, down 80.7 percent compared to the same period in 2020. Domestic M&A fell 94.6 percent from the same period last year, totaling $499.2 million, and inbound M&A activity reached $1.7 billion, down 20.8 percent from the first quarter of 2020, with the U.S. the most active acquirer by deal value, taking up 32.8% of the market share.
Outbound M&A activity by Singaporean companies reached $9.5 billion in deal value, only 7.5 pecent lower than the first quarter of 2020, with the U.S. as the most targeted nation, capturing 57.8 percent market share.
The Industrials sector saw the most deal making, with 32.3 percent market share at $5.3 billion – up 72.8 percent from a year ago, while high technology took second place, with 22.8 percent market share, followed by Energy & Power with 12.6 percent market share.
