 Ever wondered how the EDB supports enterprises in Singapore?
EDB refers to the Economic Development Board of Singapore. It is an agency under the the Ministry of Trade and Industry that is responsible for the development of business, continued innovation, and talent management in Singapore. Recently, Mr. Gan Kim Yong, the Minister for Trade and Industry graced the Singapore Exchange’s Securities Market Open event held last September 18, 2021. As announced, Singapore is set to augment support to high-growth enterprises through a package of initiatives. It includes the following: Anchor Fund @65, Growth IPO Fund, Enhanced Grant for Equity Markets Singapore (GEMS), and SGX Strategic Partnership Model. Detailed information is provided below. Anchor Fund @ 65 Earmarking S$1.5 billion in the first tranche, the establishment of the said co-investment fund aims to support high-growth enterprises and market leaders in their public fundraising in Singapore’s public equity market. Anchor Fund @ 65 will support primary, secondary, or dual listings and pre-IPO financing of the enterprises. 65 Equity Partners, a recognized platform of Temasek Holdings will handle this program to bolster the corporate governance in Singapore and facilitate shareholder value creation. Growth IPO Fund This fund targets to invest in later-stage enterprises nearing public listing typically at Series B or later. Spearheaded by EDBI, the partnership will be formed with companies to grow operations in Singapore and prepares them for eventual public listings. An initial funding amount of S$500 million will fulfil the end-to-end access to financing for companies in Singapore. It also aims to merge the EDBI’s growth-stage investments with investments from Anchor @65. Enhanced Grant for Equity Markets Singapore (GEMS) The MAS’ GEMS schemes aim to widen the support for the Listing grant, Research Talent Development Grant, and Research Initiatives Grant. Listing Grant helps the issuers bear that cost associated with the public listing process. Eligible transactions under this grant includes: audit fees, intangible assets valuation and evaluation related expenses, independent market research fees, issue manager and sponsor fees, legal fees, SGX listing fees, & underwriting and placement fees. Research Talent Development Grant, the hiring expenses and broadening of the research coverage of the Singapore-listed companies will be facilitated. It covers the following expenses: fixed basic salaries including fixed allowances, employee central provident fund (“CPF”) contributions, but not including bonus (whether fixed or variable) and employer CPF contributions; or variable income including commission and remuneration per equity research report, if an Eligible Hire is not remunerated based on a fixed basic salary. Further, a 70% co-funding reaching S$2 million and 70% to S$1 million can be enjoyed by companies with bigger marketing capitalization and smaller companies, respectively. While funding for experienced professionals will climb to S$6, 000 per month under Research Talent Development Grant. Research Initiatives Grant supports public market activities in Singapore and strengthens its equity research ecosystem. Applications are open from September 2021 until December 2023. For further details, visit their website. SGX Strategic Partnership Model High-growth companies are supported in private fundraising, liquidity, and profile building. This program will help companies access private market capital and expand its base of strategic investors, benefit from the 24 months of continuous liquidation support, and funded profiling initiatives. In private fundraising activity, eligible companies get to tap private market partners including ADDX and 1exchange support to expand and diversify their shareholder base. Access to caliber market professionals committed to helping the companies grow will be provided also. On liquidity aspect, companies will be assisted by panel of market makers and active traders ensuring consistent, enhanced trading liquidity. The help of global institutional managers envisions to bolster the potential index inclusion to capture new passive indexing flow. It also boosts its media partners with strong audience reach of 13 million globally. To drive future growth of the companies, they will also be provided with unmatched enhanced global investor outreach and coverage, access secondary fundraising channels, and privilege to join alongside Asian thought leaders on sustainability. Additional information can be found in their website. |