Asia share sales poised to test 2021 record as AI boom fuels deal pipeline

Asia-Pacific companies are poised to challenge their 2021 record for share and convertible bond fundraising this year, as an AI boom drives investment in chips, data centres and power systems.

Companies in the region raised $327.1 billion through equity deals this year, up 53% from a year earlier, LSEG data showed. The record annual high was $557.6 billion in 2021, when issuers had raised $399.7 billion by the end of September. The region needs $230.6 billion in the final quarter to beat the record — itself a quarterly record — but bankers expect more share sales and convertible bond issues.

“At year end, we expect issuance to exceed 2021, which was the historical high, underscoring the scale of the capital-raising cycle we are seeing around AI,” said James Wang, head of Asia ex-Japan equity capital markets at Goldman Sachs.

The pipeline includes Australian AI infrastructure firm Firmus, Singaporean data centre operator DayOne and Chinese flash memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies, which could raise about $5 billion each.

Dealogic data showed Asia-Pacific IPOs and new listings due to price by year-end could raise $10.4 billion, including Mynt’s $1.3 billion Philippine IPO and Samsung Biologics’ $2.2 billion South Korean rights issue. Reliance Jio Platforms won approval for a Mumbai IPO that could raise about $3.8 billion, while Deloitte China expects three to four more Hong Kong mega-listings of at least HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) each.

High-technology firms raised $125.8 billion, or 38% of the total — over three times a year earlier.

Sources

• Reuters, “Asia share sales poised to test 2021 record as AI boom fuels deal pipeline”, 2026-09-30. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/asia-share-sales-poised-test-2021-record-ai-boom-fuels-deal-pipeline-2026-09-30/