Singapore's reforms to its death penalty are flawed, Amnesty International says.
SINGAPORE: Singapore seafood hawkers have been competing for decades in the city-state’s notoriously cutthroat culinary scene. Now they’re vying for the favor of stock market investors.
No Signboard Holdings Ltd, known for its signature white pepper crab dish, started taking orders this week for an initial public offering that could value the company at as much as S$130mil (US$95mil). It’s seeking to replicate the success of long-time rival Jumbo Group Ltd, the chili crab purveyor whose shares have more than doubled since its first-time share sale in October 2015.
Investors are already lining up for No Signboard’s offering. Local businessmen are committing some of their own money including Kenneth Goi, chief operating officer of property developer GSH Corp, and David Lam, founder of bulk container provider Goodpack, according to a prospectus. An asset management arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co has also agreed to buy stock as a cornerstone investor, the prospectus shows.
“It’s a very unique type of restaurant,” said Toshihiko Takamoto, a Singapore-based money manager at Asset Management One, who said he’s enjoyed meals at No Signboard outlets. “A lot of retail investors will probably like this deal, especially if the company starts handing out dividends. It’s a familiar name to them.”
No Signboard’s IPO is seeking to raise as much as S$35mil. Investors are being offered 125 million shares at S$0.23 to S$0.28 apiece, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg.
Proceeds will go toward developing the company’s beer business, which sells proprietary brews under the Draft Denmark brand, as well as establishing a new chain of casual dining restaurants and expanding its ready meal business.
The company is taking investor orders through Nov. 17. It aims to price the offering on Nov 23 and begin trading on Singapore’s junior Catalist market on Nov 30, the terms show.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp is sole bookrunner of the offering, while RHT Capital Pte is acting as issue manager and sponsor. - Bloomberg
