Business/Technology · NEWS EXPLAINER
Asia-Pacific share sales reach $327.1B, $230.6B short of 2021 record
Asia-Pacific companies have raised $327.1 billion through equity deals in 2026, up 53% from a year earlier, Reuters reported from LSEG data. High-tech firms account for $125.8 billion, while the region still needs $230.6 billion in the fourth quarter to beat the $557.6 billion full-year record set in 2021.
Asia-Pacific companies have raised $327.1 billion through equity deals so far in 2026, putting the region near—but not yet above—its 2021 annual record as artificial-intelligence investment drives large share sales tied to chips, data centres and power infrastructure. Reuters reported September 30 that the total is 53% higher than a year earlier, citing LSEG data.
The record has not been broken. The 2021 full-year high was $557.6 billion, and Reuters says another $230.6 billion would be needed in the fourth quarter to exceed it. Bankers quoted by Reuters say the pipeline could make that possible, but those expectations concern transactions that still need to price or close.
The region is near a record pace, but has not broken the record
Reuters says the $327.1 billion raised so far is a five-year high for this point in the year and 53% above the comparable 2025 period. The 2021 record year finished at $557.6 billion, after $399.7 billion had already been raised by the end of September.
That comparison shows both the strength and the remaining gap. Reuters says the region would need $230.6 billion in the fourth quarter to finish above the 2021 total. Goldman Sachs' Asia ex-Japan equity-capital-markets head told Reuters he expects issuance to exceed 2021, but that remains an attributed forecast rather than an accomplished record.
AI-related infrastructure is a major source of the fundraising
High-technology companies have raised $125.8 billion this year, or 38% of the regional total, Reuters says. The article points to capital raising around AI chips, data centres and the power systems needed to support expanding computing capacity.
LSEG's own August analysis showed the same direction earlier in the year: Asia-Pacific and Japan equity-capital-market issuance had reached $221.6 billion at that point, up 52% year-on-year and the strongest since 2021, while technology companies represented 44% of regional equity proceeds. The percentages are from different observation dates, so they should be read as snapshots of the same broad trend, not interchangeable measurements.
The year-end pipeline is large, but proposed deals are not completed proceeds
Reuters says the known pipeline includes Australian AI-infrastructure company Firmus, Singapore data-centre operator DayOne and Chinese flash-memory producer Yangtze Memory Technologies, each of which could seek roughly $5 billion. Dealogic data cited by Reuters puts IPOs and new listings due to price by year-end at a possible $10.4 billion.
Other prospective transactions include Reliance Jio's roughly $3.8 billion Mumbai IPO and Samsung Biologics' $2.2 billion South Korean rights issue. These figures help explain why bankers see a path toward the record, but they remain proposed or pending amounts until the relevant transactions actually price and complete.
Heavy deal supply is making investors more selective
The increase in issuance does not mean every AI-linked deal is finding the same reception. Reuters quotes bankers describing greater investor caution after the heavy supply of transactions, even as they say liquidity remains available.
One banker told Reuters that capital is still available for companies able to show real earnings exposure to the AI buildout rather than relying only on an AI narrative. Bloomberg had already reported in August that AI-related share sales drove a record $83 billion July for Asia-Pacific equity capital markets despite weak regional stocks. Those observations describe market conditions; they do not guarantee that any pending deal will price successfully or that 2026 will set a new annual record.
