Singapore Government Sets Up S$1.5 Billion Fund To Spur IPO Growth

Republished By Plato

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The Singapore government has announced a package of initiatives to support high-growth enterprises to raise capital in the country’s public equity market and broaden its proposition as a financing hub.

The government and Temasek will establish a new co-investment fund named Anchor Fund @ 65 starting with S$1.5 billion in the first tranche.

This fund will support promising high-growth enterprises and market leaders in their public fundraising as well as provide pre-IPO financing to catalyse the growth of target enterprises and support them in their journey towards an eventual public listing.

It will be managed on a commercial basis by 65 Equity Partners, a wholly owned investment platform of Temasek. In addition to anchoring the investee enterprises’ public listings, the fund aims to drive good corporate governance and facilitate shareholder value creation.

Additionally, EDBI, the dedicated investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, intends to establish a new Growth IPO Fund to invest in later-stage enterprises, typically at two or more funding rounds away from a public listing.

Through this fund, EDBI will partner with companies to grow their operations in Singapore, and work towards an eventual public listing in Singapore.

Starting with a fund size of up to S$500 million, this fund will bridge the gap between EDBI’s typical growth-stage investments and the investments of the Anchor Fund @ 65, strengthening end-to-end access to financing for companies in the Singapore ecosystem.

Lastly, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will enhance the Grant for Equity Market Singapore (GEMS) scheme to expand the scope of support for enterprises seeking to list in Singapore. More details on the scheme can be found on MAS’ website.

These initiatives comes on the heels of Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) announcement that it had eased up on some measures that were deemed restrictive with a new framework to enable special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to list in the country.

Loh Boon Chye

Loh Boon Chye, Chief Executive Officer of SGX said,

“Anchored in Asia’s only AAA-rated economy, SGX provides an international platform, network and ecosystem for these companies to access growth capital from private to public markets and across asset classes.

This interagency initiative further sets Singapore apart as a capital markets hub and is a first of its kind within the region that ensures success for market leaders through deep collaboration between public and private sectors.”

Featured image credits: Unsplash