Financial services provider MoneyMax has raised $44.3 million from the issuance of 53 million new ordinary shares. Issued at 83.5 cents per share, all shares were taken up by Fullerton Fund Management, Lion Global Investors and Eastspring Investments, who are three of nine asset managers appointed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to manage $5 billion of investment capital under the equity market development programme (EQDP).
The placement price of 83.5 cents represented a discount of approximately 3.1% to the volume weighted average price of 86.2 cents for trades done on the Singapore stock exchange on April 15, being the last full market day on which the company’s shares were traded prior to a trading halt on April 16.
MoneyMax will use the net proceeds of $43.4 million for general working capital purposes, particularly to support the growth of its pawnbroking portfolio and purchases of retail inventory.
Lim Yong Guan, executive chairman and CEO of MoneyMax, says: “We are pleased to welcome a strong group of new strategic shareholders comprising these long-only EQDP institutional fund managers, whose participation reflects confidence in MoneyMax’s growth prospects and long-term strategy.”
Following the completion of the new shares placement, the company’s issued shares has increased to 937,499,998, with approximately 16.9% of the total issued shares held in the hands of the public. The placement thus paves the way for the company to transfer from Catalist-board to the Mainboard of the stock exchange by allowing MoneyMax to comply with the minimum public shareholding spread requirement under the listing manual of the SGX-ST.
Lim says: “The placement has strengthened our public shareholding base as we progress towards a Main Board listing, while enhancing our financial flexibility to support the continued expansion of our pawnbroking and retail businesses.
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“This marks an important milestone in MoneyMax’s corporate journey. Going forward, the group remains focused on delivering sustainable growth while strengthening its market position within the financial services ecosystem.”
The Edge Singapore understands that MoneyMax intends to complete the listing transfer by the first week of May.
CGS International Securities, DBS Bank and OCBC are the joint bookrunners of MoneyMax's share placement.
As at 10.15am on April 27, the counter is trading at 88 cents, up two cents or 2.5% from the previous trading day. Shares in MoneyMax have risen by more than 90% since the start of the year on the back of strong growth in gold price.
