CapBridge, UOB ink deal to provide firms across Asia with access to private capital

GLOBAL private capital platform CapBridge has inked a deal with United Overseas Bank (UOB) to offer a range of private capital solutions to private, high-growth companies in Singapore and in the bank's key markets, including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

This is CapBridge's maiden collaboration with a Singapore bank to provide companies with such alternative financing solutions and draws upon the combined market expertise of two Singapore-headquartered financial institutions and the country's strength as a global financial centre, the two parties announced on Sunday evening.

Through its investment syndication platform, CapBridge will match UOB's clients with anchor investors and accredited co-investors, catalysing private capital as a source of funding and helping these companies to broaden their investor base further.

UOB's clients may also choose to list a portion of their equity on CapBridge's affiliate 1exchange (1X), Singapore's first and only regulated private securities exchange platform, of which Singapore Exchange Limited is a shareholder and strategic partner.

This would enable the bank's clients to create a new asset class of tradeable private equities to provide their shareholders with access to flexible financing and liquidity. This is because the buying and selling of the listed private equities can be done any time and easily, compared with the typical lock-up period of more than five years for private equity as an asset class.

UOB's head of group investment banking, Edmund Leong, observed that companies typically require different types of funding and capital structures that provide financial flexibility and liquidity to meet their needs at various growth stages. He added that UOB has been providing its corporate clients with a comprehensive suite of fundraising solutions - including loans and bonds in the debt capital markets, initial public offerings in the equity capital markets and alternative private financing through its ecosystem partners.

"With our capital market expertise and through our collaboration with CapBridge and the 1X platform, we can offer our clients an even wider range of alternative private financing solutions to provide them with sustainable growth capital."

CapBridge founder and chief executive Johnson Chen noted that the private capital market is a fast-growing and stable source of primary and secondary capital for many companies.

"The CapBridge platform offers a value-adding stakeholder network in the form of sophisticated investors, as well as higher liquidity and exit potential from the tradeable private equities pioneered by the 1X private securities exchange.

"We are pleased to have the support of UOB as we continue to help private companies in Singapore and the region access the private market for valuable growth capital," he added.

CapBridge recently completed a fundraising campaign for leading Singapore-based fund management company Aggregate Asset Management for a listing on 1exchange. The offer was oversubscribed and the company is set to become the first private company to list its shares on a private exchange in Singapore next month.