(Bloomberg) — Singapore will boost its domestic stock market and startups with a package of funding measures, seeking to enhance its appeal as an Asian financial hub.
The move is meant to increase the city-state’s attractiveness as a location for capital raising for local and regional companies, the government said in a joint statement Friday. State investment giant Temasek Holdings Pte. and stock exchange operator Singapore Exchange Ltd. are involved in the effort.
A campaign to ramp up domestic investments by Temasek could help bolster Singapore’s local bourse, which has struggled in recent years with tepid listings and low liquidity. A relative scarcity of tech names — one of the hottest themes in global equity markets since the pandemic began — has also affected investor interest in Singapore’s capital markets.
Here are the main measures announced:
- The government and Temasek will set up a new fund that will have a starting tranche of S$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) to pump into public fundraising and pre-initial public offering financing of high-growth companies.
- The Economic Development Board’s investment arm will start a Growth IPO Fund of as much as S$500 million initially to invest in companies that are technology innovators and two or more funding rounds away from listing publicly. The fund will partner with the companies to help them expand, with a view towards an IPO in Singapore.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s grant to defray companies’ listing costs, initially introduced in 2019, will be increased.
- Singapore Exchange Ltd. will work with companies to provide customized capital market solutions, ranging from private fundraising to enhancing liquidity.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.