It represents the kind of high-tech players that investors have been clamouring to see listed on the local bourse

 

[SINGAPORE] After years of lamenting the lack of high-tech, growth-focused companies on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), investors are getting their wish granted with the upcoming debut of UltraGreen.ai.

 

The company develops fluorescence-guided surgery technology, offers fluorescence imaging services and supplies indocyanine green dyes used in surgical procedures. More importantly, it represents the kind of high-tech players that investors have been clamouring to see listed on the local bourse.

 

UltraGreen.ai is laying the foundation for success with a high-powered board. Kwa Chong Seng, former SGX and ST Engineering chairman, is the non-independent non-executive chairman. Hsieh Fu Hua, former SGX CEO and once a director at Grab, is the lead independent director. 

 

The cornerstone investors are equally noteworthy. Temasek-backed 65 Equity Partners is following up on its pre-initial public offering (IPO) investment via the Anchor Fund. Amova Asset Management, abrdn Asia and AIA Investment are also among the institutional names.

 

The timing of the IPO is also somewhat fortuitous, as the market is riding on the excitement of the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP). The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced the last of the measures in November, with most of them to be implemented next year. 

 

Already, fund managers are tapping the Financial Sector Development Fund, their new strategies focusing on Singapore stocks beyond the Straits Times Index constituents. These moves are helping to prime UltraGreen.ai&rsquo s share price for a good post-IPO performance. 

 

Market players have said that potential listees are following UltraGreen.ai&rsquo s trading debut closely, to see if SGX is a suitable listing venue. A robust performance could convert interest into actual listings, kick-starting a flywheel of similar offerings on SGX.

 

The cherry on top for potential listees could be the SGX-Nasdaq dual-listing bridge, since share price performance is still key. No company wants to list where its shares will be undervalued. 

 

There is a precedent for a good post-IPO performance: MetaOptics, which specialises in metalens manufacturing, is continuing to do well after its Catalist debut. 

 

Since listing in September, MetaOptics&rsquo share price has surged 241.7 per cent to S$0.82 as at Tuesday (Dec 2). The company recently unveiled plans for a Nasdaq listing, which caused another jump in its share price.

 

These factors complement UltraGreen.ai&rsquo s solid business fundamentals &ndash it posted revenue and net profit growth for the last three years, and has a global total addressable market for its dyes and systems.

 

Long stereotyped as yield hunters looking for dividends from real estate investment trusts and banks, retail investors in Singapore may now have something to excite them.

 

And without breaking these stereotypes, it will be hard for SGX to attract more of such listings. The issues of market depth and liquidity are what the EQDP seeks to address what is left is for investors to follow suit.

 

The hope is that UltraGreen.ai will be the first of many tech listings to come to SGX.

It ends the day US$0.07 higher at US$1.52 after hitting a high of US$1.62 in the morning

[SINGAPORE] UltraGreen.ai surged 12 per cent on Wednesday (Dec 3) morning from its offer price of US$1.45, as the company started trading on Singapore Exchange&rsquo s (SGX) mainboard. 

 

The initial public offering (IPO) is the largest one since 2017, outside of real estate investment trust (Reit) listings. It raised US$150 million and debuted with a market capitalisation of US$1.6 billion.

 

In addition to its listing size, the company&rsquo s flotation is also of note as many see it as a growth stock in a market of dividend stocks. 

 

On Wednesday morning, the pre-market quote was up by almost 5 per cent at US$1.52, before the counter began trading at US$1.51 when the market opened. 

 

It climbed to US$1.60 by 9.03 am, trading 10 per cent higher, before hitting a high of US$1.62 by 10.12 am, up 12 per cent from its offer price. Over 20 million shares were transacted.

 

By midday, UltraGreen.ai eased to US$1.56, still up 7.6 per cent or US$0.11, after around 27.3 million securities changed hands.

 

The counter closed at US$1.52, up 4.8 per cent or US$0.07 from its offer price, with over 36.2 million shares transacted.

 

UltraGreen.ai develops fluorescence-guided surgery technology, offers fluorescence imaging services and supplies indocyanine green dyes used in surgical procedures. It represents the kind of high-tech players that investors want listed on the local bourse.

 

The company offered 112.1 million shares at US$1.45 or S$1.892 apiece, comprising 103.4 million new shares and 8.6 million vendor shares. There were 5.9 million shares under the Singapore public offer, with 106.2 million shares under the international offering.

 

At the IPO price of US$1.45, its market capitalisation would be US$1.6 billion. This is equivalent to 28.6 times its 2024 net profit, and 31.2 times its annualised net profit for the first half of 2025. 

 

Together with the cornerstone shares, the IPO was set to raise about US$377.1 million, The Business Times reported on Nov 26. Temasek-backed 65 Equity Partners is following up on its pre-IPO investment. 

 

The group recorded a subscription rate of 4.5 times, with more than 1,000 valid applications for some 26.5 million shares. Its Singapore public offer received about S$50.2 million in application monies, while its international offering was about 14.1 times subscribed. On the whole, the offering was around 13.6 times subscribed. 

 

Yew Jingkai, head of South-east Asia equity capital markets at Citi, said the listing of UltraGreen.ai marks a &ldquo new chapter for SGX&rdquo , bringing health-tech and data innovation to the forefront. 

 

&ldquo (It) will certainly serve as encouragement for potential issuers, especially in the innovation-led and new economy sectors,&rdquo he added. 

 

Yew also flagged how the IPO coincides with the early stages of the roll-out of the Monetary Authority of Singapore&rsquo s Equity Market Development Programme, which has been a contributing factor to investor appetite seen on the deal, among others. 

 

Its UltraGreen Data Platform, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered perfusion quantification tool, offers real-time insights for fluorescence-guided surgery. 

 

The platform achieves this by leveraging advanced algorithms and a cloud-based AI engine to generate critical metrics. 

 

Notably, the board of UltraGreen.ai consists of familiar names such as Kwa Chong Seng, former SGX and ST Engineering chairman, as the non-independent non-executive chairman. Meanwhile, Hsieh Fu Hua, former SGX chief executive and former director of Grab, is the lead independent director with the group. 

 

DBS and Citigroup Global Markets Singapore are the joint issue managers, joint bookrunners and underwriters of the offering.