Singapore Exchange (SGX) and The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) have announced that they have established a partnership focused on growing capital raising opportunities for companies, particularly in the technology sector.
The two exchanges will work together to support technology and healthcare companies which are looking to tap the capital markets to fund their growth plans in Asia and globally. The two exchanges will pro-actively engage with technology companies seeking to penetrate Asian markets, to list on both exchanges. This will include assisting companies during the pre-listing stage, facilitating the listing process, and providing issuers with post-listing support by leveraging the exchanges’ network and platforms.
Israel, which is known as a “Startup Nation”, enjoys the highest density of startups, venture capital investments and largest R&D spending per capita in the world. Singapore, with the government’s supportive policies and commitment to invest in research and innovation, has an established reputation as one of the strongest and most diverse startup ecosystems globally. In a recent 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, Tel Aviv and Singapore were among the top 10 ecosystems in the world.
The partnership brings together the complementary strengths of SGX and TASE to create greater value for issuers and investors, and at the same time, extend each exchange’s geographical reach and connectivity.
Besides listings, SGX and TASE will explore other related areas of collaboration, including the potential development of a private market eco-system in Israel and enhancing the post-trade connectivity and services between the two markets.
Loh Boon Chye, Chief Executive Officer, SGX, said:
TASE has access to one of the world’s largest populations of technology startups and a rapidly expanding research and development (R&D) hub in the technology and biotech space. Our partnership with TASE complements SGX’s efforts to strengthen our technology sector, as well as Singapore’s ambitions to be a global technology and R&D hub. We look forward to collaborating with TASE to help companies raise funds on SGX’s international platform, while jointly strengthening our ecosystems and broadening investors’ accessibility to these companies.
Ittai Ben-Zeev, TASE’s CEO, commented:
The partnership agreement between TASE and SGX creates a unique value proposition for Israeli tech companies. For the first time, Israeli companies will be able to raise funds on both markets simultaneously. Dual-listing or performing a simultaneous IPO on both exchanges can assist Israeli issuers in increasing liquidity and gaining attractive valuations from a broad Asian investor base while ensuring domestic demand. We see a huge potential in SGX as a global tech hub, and as a gateway to Asian capital markets through quick and efficient fund raising process. The Israeli tech companies will be evaluated by a global and professional investor base while “staying at home”.
This partnership is part of our focus to support the Israeli innovation and technology development and provide the Israeli public to invest in the top tier tech companies in Israel. We would like to thank SGX for their vote of confidence in the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israeli economy; we look forward to realising together the great potential of this partnership.