Frencken shares drop 8.3% after S$100 million placement

[SINGAPORE] Shares of technology solutions provider Frencken fell as much as 8.3 per cent on Friday (Aug 28), after it announced plans to raise S$100 million through a proposed placement.

The counter fell to as low as S$2.33 at market open, losing S$0.21 from its previous closing price on Tuesday. Trading of the shares had been halted on Wednesday and Thursday.

Frencken on Thursday announced that it plans to raise S$100 million through a proposed placement of 44.1 million shares at S$2.2687 each. The new shares will be offered privately to institutional and accredited private investors.

The proposed placement share price is at a 10 per cent discount and represents about 10.3 per cent of the existing issued shares as at Thursday. The new shares will represent 9.3 per cent of the enlarged number of issued shares after the placement is complete.

In the year to date, shares of Frencken are up 78.9 per cent due to the artificial intelligence boom. Among its customers are chipmaking equipment makers Applied Materials and ASML – key players in the AI trade.

In comparison, other Singapore-listed semiconductor firms have experienced a greater boost. AEM shares are up more than four times, while UMS Integration is up about 130 per cent.