By Anshuman Daga
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Southeast Asian industrial technology buyout fund Novo Tellus Capital Partners will open the books for its S$150 million ($111.4 million) IPO on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Separately, last week Vertex Technology, a SPAC sponsored by Singapore state investor Temasek-owned Vertex Venture, and Pegasus Asia – a SPAC backed by European asset manager Tikehaue Capital, filed their prospectuses ahead of their listings later this month. [L4N2TN0GH]
These would mark the first SPAC listings in Asia since the frenzy for such blank-cheque firms started in the United States in 2020, before interest waned. Singapore Exchange rolled out a relaxed regulatory framework for SPACs last year.
In its preliminary prospectus lodged on Thursday, Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition said it was offering 30 million units at S$5 a unit.
The sources said the books would remain open for a few days, while the listing is planned for Jan. 27, making this the third SPAC IPO in Singapore.
The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. There was no immediate response from Novo Tellus.
SPACs are shell corporations that list on stock exchanges and then merge with an existing company to take that public, offering it shorter listing timeframes and strong valuations.
The Novo Tellus SPAC has secured 13 cornerstone investors, including an indirect, fully owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek and Malaysia’s Affin Hwang Asset Management Bhd. The investors are subscribing for 16 million units.
The SPAC, headed by CEO Loke Wai San, who is also the CEO and co-founder of Novo Tellus, will seek targets in the tech and industrial sectors.
Credit Suisse and DBS are the joint issuer managers and joint book runners on the IPO, while CGS-CIMB is the co-manager.
($1 = 1.3462 Singapore dollars)
(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Robert Birsel)
