Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments eyes RTO with US$161.7m acquisition of MoneySmart

PENNY stock Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments has entered into a non-binding heads of agreement (HOA) with Catapult Ventures for the full acquisition of personal financial marketplace MoneySmart for a price tag of US$161.7 million.

If completed, the acquisition is expected to result in a reverse takeover (RTO) of Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments, and is subject to the approval of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX-ST) and shareholders of the company, the group said in a bourse filing late on Friday (Mar 18).

MoneySmart is a South-east Asian personal financial portal that helps customers compare financial products across banking, insurance and investment categories - such as loans and credit cards.

Catapult Ventures operates the business of MoneySmart through its subsidiaries. Major shareholders of Catapult Ventures, who each own a stake of more than 5 per cent, are its chief executive Vinod Nair, as well as Kakaku.com, SPH Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.

The purchase consideration will be satisfied by the issuance of new ordinary shares in Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments, which will collectively represent 80 per cent of the enlarged share capital of the company upon the completion of the acquisition.

Following the execution of the HOA, Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments said it will conduct the necessary due diligence on MoneySmart and evaluate the feasibility of the acquisition, and negotiate and finalise the terms and conditions of the definitive agreement.

Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments said it will make an announcement disclosing the further details of the acquisition upon execution of the definitive agreement in due course.

Shares of Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments closed on Friday at S$0.002.