IPO for Pegasus Asia, supported by European investors

A general overview shows the stock exchange building of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in the central business district of Singapore on April 7, 2020, when the country ordered the closure of all businesses considered non-essential, as well as schools to combat the spread of COVID-19. -19 new coronavirus.
ROSLAN RAHMAN | AFP via Getty Images
SINGAPORE ̵[ads1]1; Another blank check company began trading on the Singapore Exchange on Friday, a day after the listing of Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation – the city-state’s first ever SPAC.
Pegasus Asia shares opened on Friday at $ 5.01 Singapore dollars, slightly different from the offer price of $ 5 Singapore dollars. The company raised $ 170 million in Singapore ($ 126.27 million) in gross proceeds from the listed offering.
It is the first Singapore-listed specialty acquisition company with international backers – sponsors include European asset manager Tikehau Capital and Financière Agache, a holding company of Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of the French luxury group LVMH.
“We feel pretty confident that we will be able to find the right acquisition,” Neil Parekh, CEO and non-executive director of Pegasus Asia, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Friday.
Parekh is also a partner and head of Asia, Australia and New Zealand at Tikehau Capital.
He said that the blank check company will focus on technology-enabled companies in areas including fintech, consumer, real estate, health and digital services to find the target acquisition.
Last year, the Singapore Exchange announced rules that would allow SPACs to list on the stock exchange’s main board.
According to the rules, SPAC must have a minimum market value of $ 150 million Singapore dollars and a 24-month time frame to de-SPAC – although companies may request a 12-month extension if they meet certain requirements.
SPACs are shell companies set up to raise money through an initial public offering, with the sole purpose of merging with or buying an existing private company and making it public. De-SPACing is the process of taking a private company public.
Details of the SPAC offer
In a regulatory submission, Pegasus Asia said the offer attracted “significant demand” from international funds, institutional investors, family offices, high net worth individuals and retail investors.
The international offer includes 29 million offer units, including 4 million units allocated to investors that Pegasus Asia can repurchase with a put option.
The public offering in Singapore of 600,000 bidding units was 7.8 times oversubscribed – at the close of Wednesday noon, there were 1108 valid applications for 4.68 million units worth $ 23.4 million in Singapore.
Each unit consisted of one new share and half of a warrant. A stock warrant allows an investor to buy a company’s stock at a specific price and on a specific date.
The shares and public warrants are set to be traded separately 45 days from the listing date, which is expected to be 7 March.
Pegasus Asia CEO Parekh told CNBC that asset manager Tikehau Capital was already looking at a number of companies in the region that wanted to be listed when the Singapore Exchange released a consultation document for SPACs.
“We had a chance to look at it very carefully and contribute some ideas to it,” he said.
“The final rules came out, and we felt that the rules were very attractive, very good, balanced rules – railings to protect investors. At the same time, there are enough incentives for sponsors to make deals, as well as for the company’s founders to benefit of being listed through this route, “Parekh added.
Citigroup and UBS were joint problem managers at SPAC.
Growing interest in SPACs
There is growing interest in blank check companies in Asia – with an increasing number of sponsors based in the region.
One of Southeast Asia’s most prominent companies, Grab, was listed on the US stock exchange through a SPAC agreement.
Singapore plans to position itself as an important Asian hub for blank check companies.
On Thursday, the Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation became the first blank check company to start trading on the Singapore Exchange. SPAC is sponsored by Vertex Venture Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of state investor Temasek Holdings.
VTAC rose 1% from the offer price to $ 5.05 Singapore dollars on Thursday – the stock opened at a high of $ 5.25 Singapore dollars before rising.
A third SPAC called the Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition delivered its prospectus on Thursday to the Singapore Exchange and expects to start trading on January 27.