Nanofilm debuts on SGX mainboard at 7.7% above IPO price

NANOFILM Technologies began its trading debut at S$2.79 on the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) mainboard on Friday, 7.7 per cent or S$0.20 above its initial public offering (IPO) price of S$2.59 per share.

Nanofilm - the spin-off company of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) - specialises in advanced materials and nanoproducts. It was among the most active counters on SGX during early trading.

As at 9.16am, the counter was trading 2.9 per cent or S$0.08 up on its opening price to S$2.87, with about 57.4 million shares changing hands.

The IPO of 77.2 million shares comprised an international placement of 73.4 million shares to investors - 22.9 times subscribed - and a public offer of 3.9 million shares, which were subscribed 30.6 times over. Overall, the offering had a subscription rate of 23.3 times.

Based on its placement price, Nanofilm's market capitalisation is about S$1.7 billion.

Ahead of the IPO, cornerstone investors had agreed to scoop up some 104.3 million shares amounting to around S$270 million, taking up more than 50 per cent of the offering.

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About S$190.9 million of the S$470.1 million raised will go to the company for capital expenditure on development, building of new machinery, purchase of new machinery, research and development and engineering. Proceeds will also go towards construction, refurbishment and renovation of new and existing production facilities, and general corporate and working-capital purposes.

The company was founded in 1999 by executive chairman Shi Xu when he was an associate professor at NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Its core business units are advanced materials, nanofabrication and industrial equipment with operations in Singapore, China, Japan and Vietnam.

Nanofilm is Singapore's first mainboard listing since March and among the largest non-Reit (real estate investment trust) listings in recent years.