The exchange said its new criteria, is aimed at ensuring the SGX remains a “competitive and relevant global exchange”. The new rules will mean companies wanting to list on the bourse will have to be significantly more profitable than was previously the case.
In order to join the SGX, companies will have to either have a market capitalisation at initial public offering of “not less than” S$150m ($117m, £74m), have a market capitalisation of S$300m at IPO if they only have operating revenue in the last completed financial year or have a minimum pre-tax profit of at least S$30m for the latest financial year.
The new rules come into force on 10 August this year.
SGX chief executive Magnus Bocker said: “Our transformational journey ensures customers coming to SGX will continue to find Asia’s most competitive and relevant capital-raising and risk management venue. Quality begets quality. The enhanced admission standards will increase Singapore’s attractiveness for companies and investors, further strengthening its position as an international financial centre.”
Manchester United
Meanwhile UK Premier League football club Manchester United, which is owned by the American Glazer family, is preparing to IPO in New York after failing to list in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The football club is trying to raise $300m, significantly less than the $1bn it had tried to raise in an aborted attempt to list in Singapore earlier this year, after demand for its shares fell short. The cash is needed to pay down net debt of about £450m which was raised by the Glazer family when it bought the club.
It is anticipated that the Glazer family, which is well known in the US for its ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will launch its roadshow to drum up interest in the shares, next week, with a view to pricing its shares in early August.
