Singapore based English language financial daily newspaper Business Times is reporting that social trading and CFD broker Ayondo is gearing up for another attempt at going public on the Singapore Exchange SGX.
We had reported back in October that FCA and BaFin regulated Ayondo was canceling its intention to “go public” on the Singapore Exchange via a Reverse Takeover of an already publicly traded company called Starland Holdings. Ayondo had first stated its intention of doing a Reverse Takeover back in April 2016.
However the Business Times has reported that Ayondo is once again preparing for a more ‘standard’ IPO this time. If successful, Ayondo will become the first fintech company to list on the Catalist platform on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which is akin to the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market.
Apparently Ayondo, which is controlled by Singapore based private equity firm Luminor Capital, is looking for a USD $100 million IPO valuation. In its latest financial filing for 2016, 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 ($1.5 million) loss for the year.
The report stated that the company will launch its pre-IPO roadshow soon, and could list as early as next month.
Ayondo Group acquired Singapore based investor education app TradeHero in late 2016, and deployed resources to monetize the TradeHero brand through the development of a stripped down and simplified mobile trading app, TradeHero Live. Ayondo plans to use the TradeHero brand to further diversify its offering geographically – mainly in Asia – and by targeting a client universe that is intrinsically different from those clients onboarded via Ayondo’s existing products. Ayondo also signed an agreement with TradeHero China to target Chinese traders with a more simplified, casual trading product.
Ayondo has focused its marketing efforts on video, advertising on the Bloomberg TV channel as well as with targeted YouTube campaigns.
Ayondo is headed by co-founders Thomas Winkler (Chairman), previously CEO of ABN AMRO Switzerland, and Robert Lempka (CEO), former CEO of ABN AMRO Marketindex.