Malaysia, Indonesia vie for IPO supremacy amid SEA revival

Indonesia and Malaysia are gearing up to compete for the top spot on ASEAN’s IPO leaderboard in 2025, as Indonesia regains political stability after its general election. This follows Malaysia’s strong performance this year: It led in deal numbers and size, driven by positive economic trends and strong investor backing.

Industry observers said ASEAN’s listings market as a whole is expected to improve amid lower interest rates and positive growth in its economies.

As of December 18, the region’s largest markets – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – raised a total of US$3.6 billion in 148 new listings, based on Bloomberg data. This amount falls short of the US$5.9 billion that the five countries raised via 171 IPOs in 2023.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Market watchers said high interest rates in the earlier quarters of 2024 bogged down IPO activity.

“High rates in the [first] three quarters of 2024 constrained corporate borrowing, dampening IPO activity as companies opted to postpone listings,” notes Tan Mui Hui, deputy head of capital markets at law firm Rajah & Tann.

Total IPO proceeds declined in the region due to a heightened rate environment, rising inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty, according to Rick Chan of professional services firm Forvis Mazars.

“[This] dampened investor sentiment and led to a more cautious approach going public,” says Chan, who is the Singapore managing partner and Asia-Pacific head of audit and assurance at his firm.

General elections in “historically high IPO volume markets” such as Thailand and Indonesia were also a factor, adds Martin Siah, Singapore country executive and Southeast Asia head of global corporate and investment banking at Bank of America (BOA).

Indonesia vs. Malaysia

Indonesia, in particular, was affected by markets “taking a pause” during the general election, says Siah.

This, along with market volatility and economic headwinds, contributed to the country’s lower IPO activity in 2024. Bloomberg data showed that US$645.1 million was raised on the Indonesian bourse through 40 new listings as of Dec. 18, falling from US$3.6 billion via 79 IPOs in 2023.

“Indonesia’s earlier success was fueled by strong tech IPO activity, but sustaining this momentum proved challenging in 2024, as global financial conditions tightened and investors became more selective,” explains Chan of Forvis Mazars.

In comparison, Malaysia had a bumper year, raising US$1.6 billion from 51 IPOs. This is higher than the US$914.8 million raised from 37 new listings in 2023, Bloomberg data showed.

Bursa Malaysia also logged another four listings on its Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform, which allows small and medium-sized enterprises to tap the capital market for funding.

Who comes out on top?

Thailand in third place