Arm’s IPO could be a leg-up for South-east Asian tech

THE market for tech listings has been a snoozefest this year, thanks to an unholy mix of rising interest rates and inflation. But things are looking up with the upcoming initial public offering of Arm. The chip designer, whose technology powers 99 per cent of smartphones, last week filed a preliminary prospectus to debut on the Nasdaq next month. This comes seven years after it was delisted from the London bourse by SoftBank.

Arm’s move could have ripple effects here in South-east Asia, as Daphne Yow reports. Improved investor confidence in the US should extend to Singapore, according to Pol de Win, senior managing director at the Singapore Exchange. 

This could crack open the listing doors, considering the pent-up supply of companies waiting to go public here – such as Singapore-based Gushcloud, One Championship and Mighty Jaxx. Other high-profile names like Carousell, Ninja Van and Nium have held back on listing in the past few years.