Source of article: Lianhe Zao Bao

Singapore Chinese mainstream media, Lianhe Zao Bao, published a story on 20th Apr 23 on the recent wave of delistings – more than 30 issuers delisted – from the Singapore market in the last two years. The aggregate market capitalization has dropped by 12.1 % vis-a-vis 2019 before the onset of Covid-19.

Zao Bao reported that as of April 2023, there are already 10 issuers planning to delist from the Singapore market, or have already announced/are in the process of completing exit offers.

Some commentators have suggested that the recent wave of delistings is triggered by offerors wanting to take advantage of the statutory loophole under the present section 215 of the Singapore Companies Act to exercise the right of compulsory acquisition or the “squeeze-out” provisions in the Act.

I shared my view with Zao Bao that the main reasons for the recent wave of delistings are due to the following factors:

• 1. Low valuations
• 2. Poor liquidity
• 3. High costs of maintaining a listed company and the attendant costs of compliance with listing rules and statutory requirements, in comparison with the benefits of having a listed company hamstrung by the low valuations and poor liquidity of the Singapore market.

My post on LinkedIn