‘One of the best years ever’: DBS’ equities head sees buoyant 2026 for Singapore IPOs

[SINGAPORE] Initial public offering (IPO) volumes on the Singapore bourse in 2026 could be “substantially much more” than the level set in 2017 – the strongest year for listings in the last decade – said Art Karoonyavanich, managing director and global head of equity capital markets at DBS.

“If you look at 2026, the volume will likely be better – (perhaps) one of the best years ever, in terms of IPO volume for Singapore,” he told The Business Times in a recent interview.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) raised US$4.4 billion in IPO proceeds from 36 listings in 2017, Bloomberg data indicated, a level that has not been matched in the past decade.

In 2025, the local bourse recorded its strongest year since 2019, with US$2.7 billion raised from 29 market entrants.

Analysts from several research houses expect that momentum to keep building, projecting between 20 and 30 listings this year – a sharp turnaround from the three-year lull between 2022 and 2024.

DBS is involved with “quite a number” of companies that could go public next year, including one that could raise up to S$1 billion, Karoonyavanich said, though he did not name specific firms.

The pipeline includes a “handful” of real estate investment trusts (Reits) spanning the industrial, hospitality, data centre and healthcare-related sectors.

“You can imagine why Reits make sense, because rates are coming down,” he said. “The momentum of the Reits is back; Singapore is still a very strong hub for any Reit listings.”

Beyond Reits, companies from the real estate, healthcare, fintech, biotech and consumer sectors have also shown interest in listing locally, he added.

In 2025, DBS climbed two spots from the previous year to top the Bloomberg league table for equity and rights offerings in Singapore, with US$1.1 billion in deal volumes across 12 transactions – just shy of a quarter of total volumes.

Among the deals were the listings of two Reits: NTT DC Reit and Centurion Accommodation Reit, which raised gross IPO proceeds of US$772.7 million and S$636.2 million, respectively, Bloomberg data showed.

DBS acted as one of the joint bookrunners and underwriters for NTT, and as one of the joint issue managers and global coordinators – in addition to joint bookrunner and underwriter – for Centurion’s listing.

The lender was also one of two joint issue managers and joint global coordinators, along with Citi, for medical imaging company UltraGreen.ai’s US$400 million IPO in December.

Supply and demand align

SGX’s outperformance in 2025 – with the Straits Times Index (STI) returning 22.7 per cent, outperforming the global benchmark S&P 500 – could also encourage more companies to consider local listings.

That said, views on the market’s near-term trajectory remain mixed.

While some analysts expect the STI to cross the 5,000 mark this year, others are more cautious, forecasting a pullback to around 4,500 points. Such an outcome could weigh on investor sentiment and, in turn, companies’ appetites to go public.

The STI closed at 4,744.66 on Friday (Jan 9).

Karoonyavanich, however, expects both the supply of companies looking to list and investor demand for new offerings to align well in 2026.

He pointed to stronger investor confidence and improved market liquidity, on the back of government initiatives to revitalise Singapore’s equities market, as key supporting factors.

Liquidity for small and mid-capitalisation stocks is also expected to improve under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP), in which S$5 billion will be deployed in phases to asset managers, including those with small and mid-cap mandates.

Greater liquidity in listed small and mid-cap stocks could, in turn, encourage similarly sized private companies to pursue IPOs, with EQDP-backed asset managers potentially stepping in as cornerstone investors – creating a cycle, he explained.

“From a supply perspective… the supply (of companies ready to list) is there,” he said. “From a demand perspective (in terms of investor appetite), it’s also been built up already.”