ICICI Securities First Indian Lead Manager To Top Equity Deal Table

ICICI Securities Ltd. has become the first Indian lead manager to rank on top of investment banking deal tables in a record year for maiden offers. Axis Bank Ltd. retains the top slot for debt since 2007.

For both equity and debt combined, the two Indian companies ranked among the top five. The rest were overseas banks. Last year, four of the top five were foreign with Axis Bank completing the list. The Mumbai-based lender was among the top five in 2020 as well.

Credit allocation till Dec. 21 to the managers of equity issues grew 4.1% over a year earlier to Rs 2.23 lakh crore, Bloomberg’s India League Tables data showed. For debt or bond issues, it fell 27.9% to Rs 3.87 lakh crore.

That came as Indian companies surpassed previous records for money raised through initial public offers in 2021 in a market flush with liquidity.

The share is based on credit allocation—proportion of issuance volumes or deal size—credited to the lead manager.

Equity Issuances

A total of 63 managers received credit allocation in 168 equity IPO deals, the data showed, compared to 102 in 2020.

ICICI Securities, Citi, Axis Bank, BofA Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Bank comprise over 46% of the market share for equity issue deals, while the top 10 managers make up over 70% of the market share.

ICICI Securities jumped eight ranks to the top spot in equity issuances this year, while Citi rose four ranks to the second position. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank jumped five and two ranks, respectively, to the third and fifth position. BofA Securities slipped one spot to rank fourth.

Axis Bank handled the most equity issuances followed by ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The lead managers handled most equity issuances from the financial sector followed by consumer discretionary, industrials, materials and healthcare sectors.

Debt/Bond Issuances

A total of 51 managers received credit allocation in 770 out of 3,393 bond or debt deals in 2021.

Axis Bank, ICICI Securities, HDFC Bank Ltd., State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank are the top five managers in this segment, comprising over 63% of the market share; the top 10 contenders have over 82% share.

The top five lead managers maintained their positions in terms of market share in 2020 and 2021.

However, in terms of number of issuances, ICICI Securities ranked first, followed by Trust Investment Advisors Pvt. and HDFC Bank.

Lead managers in this segment handled most issuances from the financial sector followed by industrials, utilities and consumer discretionary sectors.