Singapore Corporate News - 29 Oct 2007

Marco Polo IPO to raise $13.2m for expansion

INTEGRATED shipping company Marco Polo is gearing itself to ride the current oil and gas industry boom and is planning to list on Sesdaq to raise funds for expansion.

The company is offering 53.55 million new shares at 28 cents each. Marco Polo's two main businesses are ship chartering and shipyards.

Of the net proceeds of $13.2 million, Marco Polo intends to use $5 million to develop and expand its shipyard, $3 million for the expansion of its fleet and the rest for working capital.

The group's chartering business uses a fleet of 23 vessels to serve mainly Singapore and Indonesian clients. The vessels are used to move granite aggregates for the construction and land reclamation industries in Singapore and Indonesia, as well as coal transhipment from operators in Indonesia to end users in the region. They operate mainly in Singapore, Indonesian and Malaysian waters.

ARA expects strong institutional response to IPO

REAL estate fund manager ARA Asset Management Ltd, which launched its initial public offering (IPO) last Friday, expects a strong institutional response to its offer.

Sources said the institutional portion of the offer - comprising 88 per cent of the IPO or 181.9 million shares - is expected to be oversubscribed by over 30 times.

The IPO was launched last Friday - a total of 205.2 million ordinary shares in the capital of ARA, at an offer price of $1.15. The retail portion comprises 23.3 million shares.

ARA's business segments comprise real estate investment trust (Reit) management, private real estate fund management, specialist equity fund management as well as corporate finance advisory services.