Equity capital market fees rise even as mobilisation dips in H12025

Investment bankers earned an estimated $273 million in fees from equity capital market (ECM) activities in the first half of 2025, a 3.4 per cent increase from $264 million in the same period last year, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

 

This rise came despite a 16 per cent drop in funds raised, with domestic ECM totalling $25.7 billion compared to a record $30.8 billion in H1 2024.

 

The number of ECM deals also fell 31 per cent, from 286 to 196.

 

Initial public offerings (IPOs) surged 21 per cent to $5.9 billion, the highest first-half total ever, driven by two $1-billion IPOs from HDB Financial Services and Hexaware.

 

 

However, the number of IPOs dropped 30 per cent to 110.

 

Follow-on offerings, including block deals, qualified institutional placements, and rights issues, totalled $18.4 billion, down 29 per cent from last year’s record $26 billion.

 

Notable follow-on deals included MakeMyTrip’s $1.66 billion raise on Nasdaq and $1.51 billion block deals each by British American Tobacco in ITC and Singtel in Bharti Airtel.

 

Industry experts hailed the first half as a strong period for investment banking, predicting hefty bonuses for dealmakers. With a robust deal pipeline, the outlook for the second half remains optimistic, they said.