Healthcare firm S'pore O&G launches IPO for Catalist listing

Singapore

HEALTHCARE firm Singapore O&G (SOG) has launched its initial public offering (IPO) for a listing on the Catalist board of Singapore Exchange at 25 Singapore cents per share.

This values the group at S$54.5 million post-IPO.

Of the 43.6 million new shares being offered, 2.2 million are being offered to the public while 41.4 million are being offered by way of placement.

The group plans to use the net proceeds of approximately S$9.2 million from the issue of the new shares for investments in healthcare professionals and synergistic businesses, expanding its business operations as well as for working capital purposes. The bulk, or S$6 million, will be channelled towards investments in healthcare professionals and synergistic businesses.

SOG is a specialist medical practitioner group in women's healthcare with an established track record in the O&G field. It presently operates eight clinics in Singapore.

For FY14, its net profit rose to S$4.25 million, up from S$3.12 million in FY13, while revenue increased from S$8.64 million to S$13.55 million year on year.

Ng Koon Keng, group chief executive, said: "We are a proxy into South-east Asia's growing women's healthcare industry and a niche play into women's healthcare in Singapore and the region. We anticipate that the outlook for the women's healthcare sector will continue to remain positive as government initiatives to increase the national birth rate remain robust and demand for private sector O&G services remains steady."

The public offer will close at noon on June 2, while the stock is expected to start trading at 9am on June 4.

Hong Leong Finance is the underwriter and placement agent for the IPO.