Malaysia tops S-E Asia’s IPO market in first half of 2026, Singapore comes in second

The listings in Malaysia raised $1.68 billion, while those in Singapore raised $1.12 billion.

SINGAPORE – Malaysia emerged as the top market for initial public offerings (IPOs) in South-east Asia in the first half of 2026, with 36 listings, while Singapore trailed with five debuts, a Deloitte report released on July 13 showed.

The listings in Malaysia raised US$1.3 billion (S$1.68 billion), while those in Singapore raised US$868 million.

It still marks an improvement for Singapore, which saw only one IPO in the first half of 2025.

There have been signs of rejuvenation in Singapore’s capital markets, after the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange (SGX) made efforts in 2025 to boost liquidity and encourage investor interest.

In February 2025, Singapore’s central bank launched the Equity Market Development Programme, which is a $6.5 billion initiative designed to boost investor participation beyond large-cap stocks.

Deloitte South-east Asia capital markets services leader Tay Hwee Ling noted that Singapore’s performance reflects growing investor confidence and strong support for these recent market reforms.

In total, South-east Asia saw 47 IPOs across the region in the first half of 2026, raising more than US$3.07 billion in proceeds.

While there were 53 IPOs in the first half of 2025, the proceeds amounted to only US$1.41 billion.

Tay said: “Deloitte’s report highlights a resilient South-east Asian IPO market that continues to attract larger and higher-quality listings despite a moderation in overall IPO volumes.”

The report noted that the market demonstrated a significant shift towards larger transactions.

Compared with the first half of 2025, IPO proceeds in 2026 increased by 117 per cent, and the average IPO deal size grew from US$26 million to US$65 million – representing an increase of about 2½ times.