SINGAPORE (June 26): F&B player ST Group Food Industries has launched its initial public offering (IPO) via the placement of some 30.1 million shares at 26 cents each.
See: ST Group to launch IPO on Catalist Board
Headquartered in Australia, ST Group has a diversified portfolio of six globally popular brands including PappaRich, NeNe Chicken, Gong Cha and Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart.
The placement, which opens on Wednesday, will close at 12 noon on July 1. Listing and trading of the company’s shares on Catalist is expected to start at 9am on July 3.
Among other uses, the placement net proceeds of $6.2 million go towards expanding the group’s franchise network and establishing a new central kitchen and corporate office in Malaysia.
Upon completion of the placement, ST Group will have a market cap of $64 million.
Concurrently, two cornerstone investors have agreed to subscribe to an aggregate of 6.9 million shares at the issue price. They are Chikaranomoto Global Holdings for 3.8 million shares and Hyein Foods Co for 3.1 million shares.
The placement shares and cornerstone shares will in total represent 15% of the company’s post-placement share capital.
ST Group’s earnings recorded a CAGR of 62.4% from A$1.0 million ($0.94 million) in FY2016 to A$2.7 million in FY2018. For HY19, the group posted earnings of A$1.9 million, up 18.9% over the A$1.6 million recorded in HY18.
United Overseas Bank is the sponsor and issue manager and placement agent for the IPO.
Saw Tatt Ghee, Executive Chairman and CEO of ST Group, says, "We have grown tremendously over the past seven years, from the opening of our first PappaRich restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, to a network of 101 outlets comprising 38 group-owned outlets and 63 outlets owned and operated by our sub-franchisees and sub-licensees, as at end May. We have also successfully expanded our portfolio to include six internationally popular F&B brands and two of our own brand concepts."
