SGX in partnership with IMDA to spur IPOs

The Singapore Exchange announced on Wednesday a partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to facilitate accredited companies to list on the exchange and shore up the bourse’s appeal as a listing destination.

“Through this memorandum of intent, both parties aim to lower the access barriers for technology companies into the capital markets, catalyse more high-tech IPOs and increase Singapore’s attractiveness as a venue for capital raising,” SGX and the IMDA said in a joint statement.

The IMDA develops and regulates Singapore’s technology, media and telecoms sector. Under its accreditation programme, infocomm media companies are supported by investments and resources to grow and compete in global markets.

As of end May 2017, the IMDA programme had 18 accredited companies in areas such as video and data analytics and robotics.

SGX’s partnership with IMDA would allow them to organise financial support for IMDA-accredited companies in their IPO journey and advise them on listing processes, the statement said.

Fund-raising via IPOs at SGX, where about 40 percent of over 700 listed companies originate outside the country, rebounded to US$1.7 billion (RM7.27 billion) last year after slumping to its lowest in 17 years in 2015, Thomson Reuters data showed.

If approved, this would mark the boldest move by the exchange in years and is expected to help it become the go-to-place for potential IPOs for South-east Asian start-ups from the technology and other sectors, Reuters said.

Source: Press Release, Reuters