Breaking Forex News… FCA and BaFin regulated social trading and CFD broker Ayondo has announced that it is canceling its previously announced intention to “go public” on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) via a Reverse Takeover of an already publicly traded company. Ayondo had first stated its intention of doing a Reverse Takeover back in April 2016.
Instead, Ayondo stated that it intends to go public the old fashioned way, in an IPO.
The company stated that the Reverse Takeover was brought to an end in September, because certain conditions of the Sales Purchase Agreement between the parties could not be fulfilled by Ayondo’s contractual partner.
What is a Reverse Takeover?
A Reverse Takeover is a type of merger used by private companies to become publicly traded without resorting to an initial public offering. It is effected by having a (usually smaller) publicly traded company buy a (usually larger) private company, paying with its own shares. The public company will issue more new shares than it had outstanding before the deal, such that the shareholders of the (now acquired) private company end up owning more than 50% of the combined entity. When completed, the private company has effectively become a publicly traded one.
A Reverse Takeover is also commonly known as a reverse merger or a reverse IPO.
Robert Lempka, Ayondo
Robert Lempka, CEO of the Ayondo group of companies said:
The end of the RTO opens up the way for ayondo to pursue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) instead. The preparation work for an RTO and IPO is almost identical in Singapore and therefore provision is made for a listing in early 2018.
We are proud to be part of the vibrant FinTech scene in Singapore and can’t wait for the listing to happen.
According to Ayondo, other parties involved in the process such as the Sponsor, UOB Kay Hian Private Limited, as well as the Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX), continues to support ayondo in the listing process.
In late August, Ayondo announced the activation of its portfolio management licence issued by the German regulator (BaFin) making Ayondo the first FinTech company offering their services under such a licence. Ayondo’s UK arm, FCA regulated Ayondo Markets, recently reported that it grew its Revenues from £7.3 million in 2015 to £14.2 million in 2016 (USD $18.5 million) – an increase of 95%. However the growth came at a cost, with Ayondo posting a £1.1 million loss for the year. In 2015 Ayondo lost £1.4 million.