Catalist-listed Joyas unveils plans to enter non-fungible token art market

CATALIST-LISTED Joyas International Holdings E9L plans to enter the non-fungible token (NFT) market through a tie-up with a company that already deals in NFTs and cryptocurrency.

Joyas' wholly owned subsidiary will hold 60 per cent of a new company that digitises artwork as NFTs with blockchain technology, its board said in a bourse filing on Thursday (Jan 20).

The unit, Asiapac Growth Holdings, has entered into a joint cooperation agreement to set up the new company, Meta Technology International, with partner, Splendid Powerful.

The deal is "a strategic opportunity for the group to venture into the fintech and NFT industry, in line with the group's strategy of diversifying revenue streams, said the Joyas board.

But it added that the group will seek shareholder approval to diversify into fintech and NFTs if Meta enters into further transactions or if its business growth changes Joyas' risk profile.

By way of business, Meta is expected to digitise clients' artwork into NFTs, carry out marketing for the NFTs, tokenise clients' assets, list the resulting tokens, and help clients trade NFTs.

Joyas disclosed in its bourse filing that its involvement will mainly be on the marketing and sales front, with the majority of the work outsourced to services providers such as Splendid Powerful.

Splendid Powerful was described as a British Virgin Islands-incorporated financial technology or fintech firm. It is 60 per cent-owned by South-east Asia property investor Silver Map Holdings and 40 per cent-owned by a shareholder called Euasia Development Company.

Splendid Powerful has issued a securities token called "MAMI Token", which was backed by real estate properties linked to Silver Map. It also plans to set up an NFT marketplace and organise NFT project events, said Joyas in its announcement.

But the Joyas board noted that Splendid Powerful provided the information about itself, and neither Joyas nor its board have independently reviewed or verified these details.

Based on Meta's initial issued share capital of HK$10,000 (S$1,726), Joyas will contribute some HK$6,000, which the board said is not material and will not change the group's risk profile.

The board also said that the funds needed for Meta's operations will be minimal as most of the work is "outsourced and variable in nature", though it will provide more working capital or funding in proportion with its shareholding interest, if that is needed in the future.

The planned deal and set-up of Meta are not expected to have a material impact on Joyas' net tangible assets and earnings per share for the year to Dec 31, 2022.

Joyas closed on Thursday at half a Singapore cent, up by 0.2 cent or 66.7 per cent, before the announcement.