Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition makes trading debut at S$5, unchanged from IPO price

NOVO Tellus Alpha Acquisition (NTAA) made its trading debut at S$5 on the Singapore Exchange's mainboard on Thursday (Jan 27), unchanged from its initial public offering (IPO) price.

As at 9.13 am, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) was trading 1.2 per cent or S$0.06 lower at S$4.94, with about 380,000 units changing hands. (see amendment note)

The SPAC announced on Wednesday that its public tranche of 500,000 units was 7.6 times subscribed while its international placement tranche of 9.5 million units was 3.1 times subscribed. Overall, the offering was 3.4 times subscribed.

Some 13 cornerstone investors had also subscribed to 16 million units. The 2 largest cornerstone investors, Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad and Temasek-owned Venezio Investments had subscribed for a total of 4.3 million units.

Each of the IPO units consists of 1 Class A share of NTAA, and half a public warrant. A whole public warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for 1 Class A share at the price of S$5.75 apiece. Holders of these Class A shares will be able to redeem their shares for a pro-rata portion of the SPAC's account in escrow at the business combination vote.

NTAA's sponsor group consists of the sponsor general partner New Earth Group 2, Novo Tellus Capital Partners and the private equity funds which it advises, Novo Tellus PE Funds 1 and 2.

BT in your inbox

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign Up

Sign Up

The SPAC is looking to target companies in the technology and industrials sectors in the Indo-Pacific region. This includes Industry 4.0, next-generation semiconductors, cloud and edge computing, artificial intelligence, medical life sciences and supply chain resiliency for advanced engineering.

Gross proceeds of S$150 million (excluding the over-allotment option) will primarily be used for the consummation of the initial business combination, the payment of deferred underwriting commissions, and payment to independent shareholders who have properly elected to redeem their Class A shares.

NTAA's listing comes on the heels of 2 other SPACs. Units of Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation opened at S$5.25 on Jan 20 while Pegasus Asia made its debut at S$5.01 on its first day of trading.

READ MORE:

• Asia's SPAC race is over; the hard work is just beginning
• SPACs as a game changer for South-east Asian businesses
• SGX RegCo urges audit committees of SPACs to carefully consider accounting treatment
• Things to know before diving into Singapore SPACs

Amendment note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that 380 million shares changed hands at 9.13 am. It was in fact 380,000 units.