SGX adds new issue manager to help firms with IPOs

Jefferies S'pore to help build market for those seeking listing amid volatility worries

- Rosalind Ang

Jefferies Singapore will be helping to build the market for companies looking to launch their initial public offerings (IPOs), even as some of them express doubts about listing publicly owing to the volatile market.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has added Jefferies Singapore as a newly accredited issue manager, qualifying it to advise companies seeking to list on the SGX mainboard.

The two held the SGX-Jefferies Spotlight on High Growth Disruptors Conference on May 16 at the SGX Centre, to link investors up with promising private and high-growth companies from Singapore and South-east Asia.

One of these companies was car e-commerce platform Carsome, whose ecosystem includes buying and selling, financing, insurance and after-sales services for used cars.

"We thought that (2025) would be the year (to launch an IPO), but I guess the world is not really fully ready yet. To some extent, we also want to assess what other countries are going to do (in this industry)," said Mr Eric Cheng, chief executive officer and co-founder of Carsome, which was started in 2015 and has been profitable since December 2023.

"We don't have the urgency, so we will try to be more optimal towards finding the right window and right opportunity," he said.

Acknowledging that listing publicly will strengthen the company's brand equity, he also said: "There's also a lot of public liquidity we can unlock.