Singapore-related merger and acquisition activity experienced a massive surge in the first half of 2026, with investment banks advising on $77.4 billion in deals—more than double the volume recorded during the same period in 2025. Driven by an exceptionally strong first quarter, this marked the highest H1 transaction total since 2021. Although dealmaking momentum slowed in the second quarter, dropping 53.5% sequentially to $24.6 billion, the Q2 figure still represented a 50% year-on-year increase. Large-scale transactions above $1 billion dominated the market, accounting for $52.7 billion or 68% of the overall deal value.
Growth was broad-based across domestic, inbound, and outbound channels:
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Domestic & Inbound M&A: M&A targeting Singaporean companies surged 87% year-on-year to $28.1 billion, the highest H1 performance since 2020. Domestic transactions tripled to $13.5 billion, while inbound deals grew 33.4% to $14.6 billion—boosted by DayOne Data Centres’ $4.5 billion Series C round backed by foreign investors like Coatue, Hillhouse, and the Indonesia Investment Authority.
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Outbound M&A: Outbound dealmaking hit a record $37.6 billion, headlined by GIC’s leadership in Anthropic’s $30 billion funding round, which stands as the largest Asia-Pacific deal of the year so far.
The technology sector dominated the deal landscape, accounting for $43.6 billion or 56.3% of total activity. Real estate and telecommunications followed with $8.7 billion and $6.7 billion, respectively, while energy, power, and industrials made up the remaining major share. In advisor rankings, Morgan Stanley led the H1 2026 M&A league tables for Singapore-involved deals, advising on $13.7 billion in transactions to capture a 17.7% market share.
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