[Capital Markets] Hong Kong listed, temporarily ranked number one worldwide! LSEG: Hong Kong IPO and secondary listing fundraising in Q1 increased over 5 times, ECM financing reached a 5-year high, and merger and acquisition transactions recorded the strongest performance in 10 years

This year’s first quarter Hong Kong equity capital market (ECM) performance hit a 5-year high, with funds raised from listings increasing by more than 5 times, and new share fundraising ranking first globally. According to data on Hong Kong equity capital markets (ECM) and M&A in the first quarter of 2026 released by the LSEG Deals Intelligence team, during the period Hong Kong’s total ECM financing amounted to US$21.16 billion, up 26.4% year on year, reaching the highest first-quarter level since US$37.5 billion in 2021. The number of ECM issuances also rose 65.8% year on year.

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

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

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

Summarizing global new share markets, total global IPO and secondary listing fundraising in the first quarter amounted to US$40 billion, up 47.8% year on year. Hong Kong’s Main Board currently ranks 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%.

During the period, issuers from China and the U.S. accounted for 41.5% and 21% of total fundraising, respectively. Original IPO financing amounted to US$30.9 billion, up 16.5% year on year; secondary listing financing reached US$9.2 billion, up by about 15 times versus the same period last year, setting a historic start. However, the number of global IPOs declined 19.6% year on year, while the number of global secondary listings increased by more than three times compared with last year.

In addition, in the first quarter Hong Kong’s follow-on fundraising totaled US$5.8 billion, down 58.5% year on year, though the number of follow-on offerings increased 44.8% compared with the first quarter of last year. Convertible bond financing amounted to US$2.1 billion, up more than five times versus the same period last year.

High-tech industries are leading in Hong Kong ECM activities, with a market share of 36.0% and financing of US$7.6 billion, rising notably from the first quarter of last year, mainly driven by issuances related to semiconductors, software, and information technology. The industrial and consumer staples industries followed, with market shares of 16.3% and 14.8%, respectively.

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

Total Hong Kong M&A transaction value in the first quarter increased 47% — a 10-year high

For Hong Kong M&A transactions, LSEG said that the total value of M&A deals 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. Energy and power led the way, with deal value of US$21.7 billion, accounting for 58.7% of total transaction value, up 89.5% versus the same period last year. The raw materials industry ranked second with a 13.4% market share and US$4.9 billion in deal value, more than nine times the level of 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 energy group ENGIE SA agreed to acquire UK Power Networks, an entity related to Jardine Matheson and its related entities, for US$21.3 billion. This is the largest deal in the Hong Kong energy and power industry involving Hong Kong since records began in 1980.

	 Financial Hot Talk
	





 Fear that Iran-U.S. tensions could drag on? Is the market underestimating global recession risk?