India sees record ECM activity in Q1

According to data from Dealogic, Indian equity capital markets (ECM) issuance hit $14.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024, the most on record, via 144 transactions. The momentum came after a strong 2023 performance for India's equity markets when 243 companies listed on the country's stock exchanges. 

Citi topped the underwriting league table for Indian clients with a market share of 14%. In addition to initial public offerings (IPOs), the bank also worked on a steady flow of block trades, a Citi spokesperson told FinanceAsia. 

The US bank saw deals valued at $2.1 billion in India. Citi said it has a "busy pipeline" across a host of sectors in India, and expects further strong volumes during 2024. In Q1 2024 in India, Citi was followed by BofA Securities and ICICI Bank, in second and third places respectively for Indian ECM activity respectively.

“With a strong pipeline and continued strong investor interest, we expect more records to fall during 2024,” said Rahul Saraf, Citi’s head of investment banking for India, in a statement.

Citi also topped the Asia ECM league table, by volume, in Q1 2024 wih $4.85 bllion worth of deals. Morgan Stanley was second with around $4 billion worth of deals. Goldman Sachs came third in the table with $2.5 billion of deals. 

Citi's performance in the region was boosted by India, South Korea and Taiwan, with other key markets in Asia, such as Hong Kong and China, remaining sluggish. 

Transactions that Citi were involved in Asia included the $2.1 billion block trade by British American Tobacco (BAT) in ITC (in India), a $2 billion combination block trade for South Korea's Hana Bank, a $1.1 billion block trade by Tata Sons in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in India, and the $689 million global depositary receipts (GDR) for Taiwanese chipmaker GlobalWafers.

“Asia Pacific ECM issuances continue to remain robust particularly in markets such as India, Korea and Taiwan which accounted for bulk of the Asia deal volume in Q1,” said Kenneth Chow, head of Asia North/Australia and Asia South ECM origination and solutions at Citi. Chow is based in Hong Kong. 

For more FinanceAsia analysis about the expected trends in Asia's equity markets this year, click here.