Candy-maker, car dealer could be first 2025 IPOs on SGX

Car dealer Vin's Holdings and candy-maker YLF Group Marketing could be the first listings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in 2025.

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The car dealer, whose businesses include the sale of new parallel-import and pre-owned motor vehicles, maintenance and repair services, as well as rental and leasing, lodged preliminary offer documents in mid-March for a listing on the SGX Catalist board.

Also in March, YLF, which manufactures and distributes its range of products in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, lodged its preliminary prospectus as it, too, mulls over a Catalist listing.

The two potential initial public offerings (IPOs) come after a barren spell for the Singapore market, with no listings in the first quarter.

The last IPO on SGX was that of karaoke and live show operator Goodwill Entertainment, which made its trading debut on the Catalist board in November 2024.

The Singapore bourse has not had a mainboard listing since that of Digital Core Reit—a data centre real estate investment trust (Reit)—in December 2021, excluding the listing of three special-purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) in 2022 and the listing of live-streaming platform 17Live Group in 2023, following its business combination with the Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation Spac.

Singapore has had 10 Catalist listings in the last two years—six in 2023 and four in 2024.

Founded by chairman Vincent Khong, Vin's started as a car workshop in 1987, focusing on motor-vehicle maintenance and repair, as well as insurance claims.

It later expanded its services to include rental and leasing of cars to other workshops for end customers to use while their cars were being repaired.

Mr Khong's son Galvin joined the group in 2014 and is now its chief executive.