(Bloomberg) — Blank-check companies could revive Singapore’s languishing market for initial public offerings as stock exchanges from Mumbai to Seoul profit from blockbuster deals.
Singapore Exchange Ltd. last week presented rules for the listing of special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, as it attempts to get a slice of what has become a worldwide frenzy. It is allowing SPACs to list under a rulebook that is more lenient than initially envisioned and more in line with the framework in the U.S.
SGX has hosted just three IPOs this year, struggling to attract big newcomers amid long-time woes of low liquidity and squeezed valuations. The move on SPACs, which is expected to draw in listings from sectors including technology, comes as global financial regulators are raising scrutiny of these structures.
READ: Singapore Rolls Out SPAC Rules as Global Scrutiny Rises
“The SGX is sending a clear signal that it’s engaged with market participants and is very much open for business,” said Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing partner at TSMP Law Corp. a law firm. “What we need are top flight sponsors to launch their SPACs here, and attract quality companies.”
India’s Zomato Ltd., Indonesia’s Bukalapak.com PT and South Korea’s Krafton Inc. are some examples of Asian startups that listed in recent weeks in their home markets in deals worth more than $1 billion each. Singapore’s most recent tech debut, Aztech Global Ltd., raised around $220 million in March.
Singapore’s stock market has been traditionally dominated by finance and property firms, held mostly as dividend plays, and is short on tech names — the hottest theme in global equity markets since the pandemic began.
Three of the four most-heavily weighted stocks on the SGX are banks, the biggest of which — DBS Group Holdings Ltd. — is partly owned by state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. The fourth, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., is controlled by Temasek.
While listings by real estate investment trusts have been a success for SGX — the most recent REIT listing, United Hampshire U.S. REIT, happened 18 months ago. Part of the difficulties are due to broader economic factors, such as the city-state’s size and small population compared to other Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia and Thailand, said Robson Lee, a partner at Gibson Dunn, a law firm.
“I can see why SGX would want to develop a market for SPACs to list in Singapore, particularly given the buzz at the moment around Asean technology companies, but whether it moves the needle remains to be seen,” said David Smith, senior investment director for Asian equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
READ: Singapore Bourse Markets Dollar Bond as Competition Mounts
The Pipeline
“We are actively engaging with potential sponsors and are expecting a robust pipeline of Asia-focused SPACs,” Mohamed Nasser Ismail, SGX’s head of equity capital markets, said on Thursday following the launch of the framework.
Turmeric Capital, an investment firm led by former L Catterton Asia head Ravi Thakran, is working with an adviser for a SPAC IPO in the order of S$300 million ($224 million), Bloomberg reported last month.
It will be joining Novo Tellus Capital Partners, a technology and industrials-focused private equity firm, and Temasek’s Vertex Holdings Ltd. in seeking to be among the first to set up a blank-check company in Singapore.
“There is an ecosystem of companies in Singapore that have a regional footprint and they may choose to list in Singapore; tech will definitely be a relevant sector as SPACs take off,” said Vineet Mishra, co-head of Asean investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Still, competing with more liquid foreign markets will remain a challenge. Three Singapore-based SPACs listed in New York since the start of the year, raising nearly $700 million. Further, Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc., Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, is set to go public in the U.S. in what could be a $40 billion merger with a SPAC there.
Olam International Ltd., one of Asia’s biggest agricultural commodity traders and suppliers, last month announced plans for a primary listing of its food ingredients business in London, while preparing for a concurrent secondary listing in Singapore.
Singapore’s “homegrown businesses” reached a level of success that allows companies “to seek IPOs in the U.S. and H.K., where the valuations are higher and there’s more liquidity,” said TSMP’s Yuen Thio. Foreigners coming to Singapore “will want a full-service business environment, which includes a vibrant and welcoming stock exchange. SPACs could be an important offering.”
Read More: Why the Hot SPAC Market Has Started to Cool Down: QuickTake
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