A look back at 2017 IPOs and who's coming to town in 2018

Singapore

IN step with broadening investor confidence, fundraising via initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Singapore bourse sprang back to life in 2017, with a total of 20 new flotations raising S$4.7 billion. That's double the S$2.26 billion raised from 16 IPOs in 2016.

The Business Times looks at some of the trends that defined IPO activity last year, and what to expect in 2018.

Cornerstone investors featured prominently in many deals last year, but none more so than Heliconia Capital Management, the investment firm owned by Temasek Holdings. Excluding business trusts, four of the 16 companies that went public in 2017 did so with the backing of Heliconia.

Coffee shop operator Kimly, engineering firm Sanli Environmental, recruitment firm HRnetGroup and restaurant group RE&S all had Heliconia come in as a pre-IPO investor months before their…