' Vincent Tan to Launch CCFC on Singapore Stock Exchange? '

Cardiff City investigate potential launch on Singapore stock exchange after Manchester United's listing in New York - reports
6th Dec 2013

Reports say Vincent Tan has instructed CIMB Group Holdings to explore an initial public offering (IPO) of the club on Singapore’s Catalist exchange next year



Cardiff City’s billionaire backer Vincent Tan has hired an investment bank to investigate launching the club on the Singapore stock exchange, it was claimed today.

Sources have told Reuters Tan has got CIMB Group Holdings – the largest Asia-Pacific investment bank – on board to explore an initial public offering (IPO) of the club on Singapore’s Catalist exchange next year.

It comes after a bid to launch on the Malaysian stock exchange is said to have hit trouble because of the club’s cash-flow and lack of operating profit.

One of the people involved in the deal, who wanted to remain anonymous because details remain confidential, said an offering in Malaysia looked dead in the water.

“They are appealing to Malaysia’s Securities Commission but it seems they are not proceeding anymore,” the source said.

Tan, chair and Chief Executive of the Berjaya Corporation Berhad, had planned an IPO on the Kuala Lumpur exhange – called Bursa Malaysia – earlier this year.

But regulatory rules stipulate companies must have either years of unbroken profit or “excellent growth potential”.

A guide to going public on Bursa Malaysia’s main market says it is “for established companies with a profit track record of three to five full financial years or companies with a sizeable business.”

Cardiff’s latest set of accounts published all the way back in January showed it was not in profit.

Conversely, it was operating with a £13.6m annual loss.

Bursa Malaysia’s secondary Ace market is said to be “an alternative sponsor-driven market designed for companies of all business sectors that have excellent growth potential".

The Catalist exchange in Singapore is said to be for small companies and plans for the IPO are understood to be in the early stages.

It follows Tan’s listing of two companies this year which raised a combined 100 million ringgit ($31m).

A planned $250m IPO for Seven Convenience Bhd, which runs all the 7-Eleven convenience stores in Malaysia and in which Tan also has a stake, was delayed to March next year from December as the company was still answering queries from the regulator.

Meanwhile Tan is also exploring a $300 million IPO of Internet payment company MOL Global Pte Ltd, owner of social networking site Friendster Inc, by as early as next year.

Cardiff would not be the first football club to launch an IPO – Manchester United’s $233.2m listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012 was the largest sports team initial public offering (IPO) ever.

Complete bollocks
The reason Man U floated in the US was that it did not meet the listing criteria in Singapore or Hong Kong so there is no way we can float as we have never made a profit in the 40 years I have spent down the City

agreed. bollocks!!! why would Mr Tan go through the trouble and expense of seeking of floating on KL stock market when he would have already known the rules? stirring going on again here.