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Softbank to offer Singapore unit
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- Japan's second-largest venture capital group, Softbank Investment Corp, said it would make an initial public offering for its Singapore unit despite weak stock prices and war in Iraq. The unit, investment bank SBI E2-Capital, is headed by ex-DBS Group banker Choo Chee Kong. The unit itself handled a dozen of the 27 share offerings in Singapore last year and four of the nine IPOs seen in the first quarter. SBI is now keen to offer its own stock. "Despite the war, I'm confident we can do it. I do have a lot of buyers knocking on my door," Choo told Reuters in an interview Friday. "We want to do it for the profile because we are fighting with bigger, established competitors," he said. SBI hopes to raise S$10 million ($5.66 million) to S$15 million in its IPO. In July 2002, Choo said the company would list within 12 months. He now expects the IPO to emerge in the second half of this year. So far in the first quarter, Singapore ranks as the fourth largest IPO market in Asia, raising $49.4 million. That figure is dwarfed by China's $1.01 billion, but is slightly ahead of Hong Kong's $45.9 million, Thomson Financial data showed. Compared to previous years, proceeds from Singapore IPOs are skimpy -- none have raised more than S$40 million in the first quarter -- as most of the city-state's big companies are already public. SBI aims to manage 10 more new stock offerings for the rest of 2003. Eventually, Choo said, he wants to do deals in the fertile Chinese IPO market and to acquire a brokerage there. Choo said SBI hoped to launch an IPO soon for a Chinese brand. "It's been some time since Singapore had a Chinese stock listing. It's the scarcity factor so I think the market will respond to it..Every IPO now must be packaged well." Singapore's Straits Times Index returned to November 1998 lows in early March but has recovered since. It is now down about two percent from its end-2002 level. Choo said an end to the Iraq war would be a catalyst for the stock markets to recover. "There's a lot of money in Chinese and Singapore banks but nobody wants to spend. People are waiting for an excuse to buy." Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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