Acer-backed Winking Studios IPO fully subscribed
Tan Nai Lun
THE initial public offering (IPO) of gaming-related company Winking Studios closed with 40 million of its new shares fully subscribed for S$0.20 a piece.
Total valid applications for the company’s placement shares amounted to 27.2 million, with application monies received amounting to S$5.4 million, it said on Friday (Nov 17).
The remaining 12.8 million shares were subscribed by Acer Gaming and Acer’s chairman and chief executive officer Jason Chen, through a cornerstone investment.
Acer Gaming is Winking’s majority shareholder, and the gaming arm of Taiwan-listed electronics company Acer. Chen is also the majority shareholder of Acer Gaming.
The counter is expected to start trading at 9 am on Monday, on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Winking’s chairman and CEO Johnny Jan said: “We believe our status as a Singapore-listed company elevates our profile on the world stage, enhances our brand equity and provides us greater leverage to expand our geographical footprint and seize a larger market share.”
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The company expects to use net proceeds – of approximately S$5.1 million – to establish overseas subsidiaries and offices in Asia, and increase its business development and marketing efforts in the United States and Europe.
It also intends to pursue strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances as well as explore the use of artificial intelligence to complement and/or expand its art-outsourcing capabilities.
Winking said it is Asia’s third-largest and the world’s fourth-largest game art outsourcing studio.
The company counts 19 of the world’s 25 largest game developers – including China’s Tencent and NetEase, South Korea’s NCSoft, Japan’s Square Enix, France’s Ubisoft and the United States’ EA – among its customers.
It has also undertaken projects in major game titles such as miHoYo’s Genshin Impact, Maxis’ The Sims 4 and Activision’s Call of Duty: Mobile.
PrimePartners Corporate Finance is the sponsor, issue manager and placement agent for the listing.
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