[Capital Markets] Hong Kong IPO temporarily ranked first globally! LSEG: Hong Kong IPO fundraising in Q1 increased over 5 times, ECM financing reached a 5-year high, and M&A transactions were the strongest in 10 years

This year’s first quarter performance of Hong Kong’s equity capital markets (ECM) hit a 5-year high, while IPO fundraising rose more than 5-fold, with new-share fundraising ranking first globally. According to data on Hong Kong’s equity capital markets (ECM) and M&A released by the LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) Deals Intelligence team for the first quarter of 2026, Hong Kong’s total ECM financing in the period amounted to US$21.16 billion, up 26.4% year on year. This is the highest first-quarter level since US$37.5 billion in 2021, and the number of ECM issuances also increased 65.8% year on year.

For new listings, the combined total of original IPOs and secondary listings on the Main Board and GEM in Hong Kong in the first quarter accounted for 63% of total ECM financing, raising US$13.3 billion in total, up 5.3 times year on year and setting the highest first-quarter record in five years. The total number of IPOs and secondary listings also hit an eight-year high, up 153.3% year on year. Among them, new listing activity was led by China-based companies, accounting for 99.9% of total financing, raising US$13.26 billion. The financing amount increased more than sixfold compared with the same period last year, and the number of issuances also was nearly three times as high.

High-tech industries accounted for 49.1% of the total value of Hong Kong IPOs and secondary listings. There were 15 new issuances that raised US$6.5 billion, while there were no related issuances in the same period last year.

Global IPO and secondary listing fundraising rises 47.8% in the first quarter

Summarizing global new-share markets, the total global fundraising from IPOs and secondary listings in the first quarter was US$40 billion, up 47.8% year on year. Hong Kong’s Main Board is currently ranked first among global exchanges, with a market share of 33%, higher than Nasdaq’s 14.1% and the New York Stock Exchange’s 12.4%.

In the period, issuers from China and the United States accounted for 41.5% and 21% of total fundraising, respectively. Original IPO fundraising was US$30.9 billion, up 16.5% year on year. Secondary listing fundraising was US$9.2 billion, up about 15 times compared with the same period last year, marking a historic start to the year. However, the number of global IPOs fell 19.6% year on year, while the number of global secondary listings increased more than threefold from the previous year.

In addition, total fundraising from Hong Kong follow-on offerings in the first quarter was US$5.8 billion, down 58.5% year on year, although the number of follow-on offerings increased 44.8% from the first quarter of last year. Convertible bond fundraising was US$2.1 billion, up more than fivefold year on year.

High-tech industries lead Hong Kong’s ECM activity, with a market share of 36.0% and fundraising of US$7.6 billion, up significantly from the first quarter of last year, mainly driven by issuances related to semiconductors, software, and information technology. Industrial and consumer staples industries followed, with market shares of 16.3% and 14.8%, respectively.

Morgan Stanley currently ranks first on the Hong Kong-listed ECM deals underwriting league table, with a market share of 14.1% and related fundraising of US$3.0 billion.

Total Hong Kong M&A deal value rises 47% in the first quarter—sets a 10-year high

On Hong Kong M&A deals, LSEG said the total M&A deal value involving Hong Kong in the first quarter was US$36.9 billion, up 47.2% year on year and the highest first-quarter level in a decade. Among them, the energy and power industry dominated, with deal value of US$21.7 billion, accounting for 58.7% of total deal value and up 89.5% year on year. The materials industry ranked second with a market share of 13.4% and deal value of US$4.9 billion, which is more than nine times the same period last year. The media and entertainment industry ranked third with a 7.7% share, up 112.6% year on year.

Of note is that LSEG said French company ENGIE SA agreed to acquire UK Power Networks from entities related to CK Hutchison at a price of US$21.3 billion, which is the largest Hong Kong-involving energy and power deal recorded since 1980.

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