Against the backdrop of generally robust economic fundamentals, Southeast Asia continues to attract its fair share of deal flows as issuers and borrowers access the capital markets to fund their growth potential. Most of the fund raising in 2024 was done through the debt capital markets on the back of tepid initial public offering ( IPO ) activity, except for Malaysia, which witnessed a record number of corporate listings.

Capital markets were being continuously mobilized for sustainable financing, based on several transactions reviewed and evaluated by our board of editors for The Asset Triple A Sustainable Finance Awards 2025. There were, indeed, first-time as well as repeat issuers and borrowers in the sustainable finance space from different jurisdictions as they pursued their net-zero objectives and decarbonization initiatives.

In the case of Malaysia, it was the IPO story that defined the market in 2024. According to Bursa Malaysia, there were 55 IPOs listed last year – up from 32 in 2023 – raising a total of 7.42 billion ringgit ( US$1.66 billion ). This was the highest number of listings Bursa Malaysia has welcomed in the past 19 years. Most of the IPOs – numbering 40 – were conducted in the so-called ACE Market, a sponsor-driven market designed for companies with growth prospects.

“The IPO proceeds enable companies to expand their businesses, grow the economy, generate higher profits, pay dividends to shareholders, contribute tax revenue to the government, and create employment opportunities for Malaysians,” says Bursa Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar in a statement. “Looking ahead, we are committed to sustain the strong IPO momentum as we move into 2025.”

One IPO that stood out because of its size was the 2.4 billion ringgit share sale by 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings, which was the largest initial offering in Malaysia by deal size and by market capitalization since 2017. The institutional book was fully covered on the day the deal was launched, while the retail tranche was about 3x oversubscribed before the opening of the order book.

Meanwhile, Prolintas Infra Business Trust became Malaysia’s first business trust and the first highway business trust in the Asean region when it listed in March 2024 after raising 512.1 million ringgit. The pre-bookbuild process saw the IPO anchored by eight cornerstone investors consisting of government-linked investment companies and long-only asset managers.

Alternative venue

With the vibrant IPO performance, a senior Malaysian banker says Bursa Malaysia is attracting a lot of interest from overseas companies from Singapore, Japan, China and Taiwan that are seeking an alternative listing venue. “Bursa Malaysia is now on the radar of these companies because the market is flush with liquidity and they believe they can achieve better valuation versus the rest of the Asia-Pacific markets,” he says. “So, 2025 can even surpass the IPO market performance in 2024 due to strong deal pipeline.”

Indeed, Malaysia was the brightest spot in the Asean IPO markets in 2024. According to figures supplied by LSEG, the value of Indonesian IPOs declined sharply to US$876.07 million from 41 deals in 2024 from US$3.55 billion from 75 transactions a year earlier. Thailand followed the downtrend with US$642.10 million worth of IPOs from 20 deals, compared with US$1.30 billion from 39 transactions in 2023. The IPO market in the Philippines remained sluggish with only three listings in 2024 raising a total of US$234.09 million, while 17 companies were listed in Singapore raising a total of US$152.33 million.

It was actually in the debt capital markets where the plethora of deals originated from the Asean countries in 2024 – many of which are ESG-centric loans and bonds ( green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked and blue ). Based on LSEG data, the total G3 ESG-related bond issuance from the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand amounted to US$7.07 billion, or more than double the US$3.42 billion printed in 2023 – a year in which Thailand did not arrange a single issuance in the G3 bond market.

The bulk of the deals were done in the loan market, which amounted to US$117.28 billion in 2024 – though this volume represented a decline of 15.1% from US$138.17 billion in the previous year.

IFC active investor

The International Finance Corporation ( IFC ) figured in a number of sustainable financing deals in the region acting as an investor in the transactions. It was involved in the 14.5 billion pesos ( US$247/40 million ) sustainability-linked loan for Ayala Land of the Philippines, which was referenced to two specific sustainability performance targets. The first one is to certify 1.5 million square metres of the company’s existing office portfolio by the end of 2025 with IFC’s EDGE zero-carbon certification, up from the current 350,000 sq m. The second target is to reduce greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions by 42% across the company’s commercial real estate portfolio by the end of 2030, which includes malls, offices and hotels.

Also benefiting from the IFC investment was City Savings Bank, which issued the first social bond from a thrift bank in the Philippines amounting to US$100 million. The proceeds were allocated for loans to women in low and lower middle-income groups, who were encouraged to make investments in small businesses to supplement their family’s income, in addition to payments for healthcare, education and housing.

IFC was also a cornerstone investor in the 3 billion baht ( US$88.20 million ) sustainable-linked bond ( SLB ) for large retail property development and investment company Central Pattana PCL – its first investment in a publicly-listed bond in Thailand. The proceeds were used for GHG emission reduction initiatives and to support the company to meet its green building targets.

Together with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, IFC was also an investor in the US$150 million green and blue bond issued by Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank – with each of them committing US$75 million to the deal.

Guarantee support

Also playing an important role in the sustainable finance space in the region is Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility ( CGIF ), a trust fund set up by the Asian Development Bank. It helped launch several inaugural issuances in 2024 on the back of its guarantee support. These included the first Cambodian green bond for an issuer from the special economic zone sector, Royal Group Phnom Penh, amounting to 41 billion riel ( US$10.20 million ) and the first rupiah-denominated SLB issued in Indonesia for PT Steel Pipe Industry amounting to one trillion rupiah ( US$61.20 million ).

CGIF also provided a guarantee to the first-ever SLB by a shipping company from the Asean region, Precious Shipping PCL of Thailand, amounting to 1.36 billion baht, with the paper privately placed to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

Other deals that contributed to the depth and breadth of the ESG-related debt markets in Asean in 2024 included the first-ever sovereign SLB issued by the Kingdom of Thailand amounting to 30 billion baht and the first blue bonds from the Philippines and Thailand printed, respectively, by water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services amounting to 15 billion pesos, and the Export-Import Bank of Thailand amounting to 3 billion baht.

Noticeably, domestic banks play a significant role in bringing these deals into the market, which also highlight the importance of the local currency bond market in the pursuit of sustainable finance.

For the complete list of best banks and advisers in Southeast Asia, please click here.

For the complete list of best deals in Southeast Asia, please click here.

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