JPMorgan sees APAC TMT deal backlog at multi-year high

JPMorgan reports the Asia-Pacific backlog for technology, telecommunications and media transactions is the largest since 2021, with tech IPOs in Hong Kong, Japan and India and AI financing expected to lead activity in 2025. Hong Kong listings have raised more than $32 billion this year, according to the bank.

On Monday, Mark Fiteny, who leads JPMorgan’s TMT investment banking in Asia Pacific, described activity as having “substantially picked up,” with “a backlog in size that we haven’t seen since 2021” and an outlook “as robust as we’ve seen in a long time.” He indicated dealmaking reached a four-year high this year and expects further acceleration next year.

He expects tech IPOs across Hong Kong, Japan and India to make up most of the fee pool. He also pointed to rising capital needs for AI projects and infrastructure, with companies arranging equity, debt and strategic partnerships.

Technology-driven change in health care, financial services, automotive, and consumer and retail is feeding corporate pipelines, Fiteny explained. His team is hosting a global TMT conference in Hong Kong this week that brings together companies and investors.

Geopolitical tensions are making some transactions more complex, he acknowledged, though client work across the region continues. On regional dynamics, he cited fundamental growth activity in India, active markets in Japan, and identified China as Asia’s core growth engine.

As we reported earlier, foreign investors accelerated selling in Asia’s major AI-linked stocks in the first half of November, withdrawing about $4.6 billion each from South Korea and Taiwan and roughly $10.2 billion from the Asia ex-Japan region. On Nov. 14, Japan’s Nikkei fell about 1.8%, Korea’s Kospi more than 3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng about 1.9%. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan IT index dropped over 4% last week after a more than 60% rise in the prior six months.