Morgan Stanley swallowed the market whole this year. There was precious little transaction activity that its investment bankers didn’t play a key role in.
The firm topped the rankings in Asia-Pacific mergers and acquisitions, advising on 79 completed deals worth $182.7 billion, according to Dealogic. In Asia ex-China equity capital markets, it helped to complete 42 deals – more than any other bank – worth $5.4 billion, in a poor year for ECM in Asia and worldwide.
And it ranked second in debt capital markets – by the narrowest of margins – in Asia ex-China, completing 419 deals worth $46.2 billion. Where Morgan Stanley was strong, was where it likes to be strong for itself and its clients: in advisory work, ECM, DCM and high yield.
Advisory was front and centre in Asia this year. For the first time in more than a decade, the big story in Asia was not China but ex-China, and in this context, it was Morgan Stanley’s longstanding presence across the region that in large part helped it win this award.
It was financial adviser to HDFC Bank, India’s most valuable bank, on its $40 billion merger with Housing Development Finance Corporation, the country’s largest mortgage lender. In Australia, its bankers helped to broker the $13.6 billion merger between Woodside Petroleum and BHP Petroleum, and the complex $6.2 billion take-private of Crown Resorts. The latter deal marked the largest transaction to date in Asia for private-equity firm Blackstone, which was co-advised by Morgan Stanley. The US bank worked on the deal for two years.
Outside China, Asia’s ECM markets were more miss than hit. Deal activity sputtered rather than surged, yet the bank was there on the deals that mattered. It led Japan Post Bank’s $9 billion sell-down, the third-largest Japan follow-on offering and the largest equity deal in Asia in over a year.
Again, it made its geographic presence felt. Morgan Stanley managed the $672 million May 2022 initial public offering of SoftBank-backed Indian logistics firm Delhivery and the $1.7 billion Hong Kong IPO of Tianqi Lithium, a Chengdu-based supplier of components used in rechargeable batteries.
Another notable transaction during the awards period was the $190 million initial stock sale of Hesai Group, a Shanghai developer of sensor technologies used in autonomous vehicles. It was one of just a handful of tech US IPOs by Chinese firms since Didi Chuxing in 2021.
The depth of our bench and our geographic diversity allowed us to achieve this balanced performance across all major products
Dieter Turowski
It was a busier year in the region’s debt markets. Morgan Stanley helped Hong Kong real estate firm New World Development raise $700 million in green perpetual and social bonds in July 2022.
Two other deals worth highlighting are Export-Import Bank of Korea’s $3.5 billion sale of blue bonds, with the funds to be allocated to finance marine projects; and Lenovo’s $1.25 billion inaugural green bond. The Chinese technology firm earmarked the funds to financing suitable projects and to support its vision of achieving carbon net-zero by 2050.
“The last year has not been an easy one in investment banking,” says Dieter Turowski, chairman, investment banking Asia Pacific. “However, we have managed to achieve a top-three wallet share position in M&A, equity and debt, while also maintaining our top position in IPOs. It was the depth of our bench and our geographic diversity that allowed us to achieve this balanced performance across all major products.”
