The Singapore government and its sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, will launch a new co-investment fund with an initial commitment of SGD 1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion).
This fund, dubbed Anchor Fund @ 65, would help potential high-growth businesses and market leaders raise money in the city-public state’s stock market, whether through main, secondary, or dual listings.
It will also provide pre-IPO funding to help target companies expand and prepare for a public offering.
Temasek’s 65 Equity Partners, a wholly owned investment platform, will oversee the fund’s commercial management. Anchor Fund @ 65 aspires to foster strong corporate governance and assist shareholder value generation in addition to anchoring the public listings of its investee companies.
In addition, the Singapore Economic Development Board’s investment arm, EDBI, plans to launch a new Growth IPO Fund to invest in later-stage businesses that are two or more fundraising rounds away from a public offering.
Through this fund, EDBI will engage with firms to help them expand their operations in Singapore and prepare for a public offering.
This fund, which will start with a size of up to SGD500 million (US$370 million), would bridge the gap between EDBI’s normal growth-stage investments and the Anchor Fund @ 65’s investments, enhancing end-to-end access to finance for Singapore firms.
Finally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that it will increase the scope of assistance for the Listing grant and Research Talent Development award under the Enhanced Grant for Equity Markets Singapore (GEMS) scheme.
Through a Listing grant, a Research Talent Development grant, and a Research Initiatives grant, the GEMS program, which was launched in February 2019, intends to enhance Singapore’s equity capital market.
The Listing Grant assists issuers in defraying some of the expenses of listing. Simultaneously, the Research Talent Development award intends to develop equity research talent by co-funding recruiting costs and expanding research coverage of Singapore-listed businesses.
The Research Projects award, on the other hand, aims to encourage crowd-sourced initiatives that would help Singapore’s equity research ecosystem grow.
DBS and Temasek announced last month that they will collaborate to create EvolutionX Debt Capital, a $500 million development-stage debt financing platform. EvolutionX, based in Singapore, strives to boost growth and develop the next generation of technology leaders.
