<div id="readability-page-1"><div><p>[SINGAPORE] Consumer lifestyle group  Aspial Lifestyle  on Thursday (May 14) announced a proposed equity fund raising exercise to raise gross proceeds of about S$84.8 million.</p><p>A private placement will raise about S$60 million, while a non-renounceable preferential offering will raise about S$24.8 million. They are both priced at S$0.402 each, which represents a discount of about 8.1 per cent to the volume-weighted average price of S$0.4375 per share.</p><p>This benchmark price was based on the trades done on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Wednesday, the last full market day prior to a trading halt called before market open on Thursday morning.</p><p>The company moved from the Catalist board to the SGX mainboard on May 4.</p><h2>Dual-pronged fundraising</h2><p>Under the private placement, 149.3 million new shares will be issued to institutional, accredited and other investors. DBS, OCBC SAC Capital and UOB have been appointed as joint placement agents.</p><p>For the preferential offering, 61.7 million new shares will be offered to eligible shareholders on the basis of one preferential offering share for every 30 existing shares held as at the record date of 5 pm on May 22.</p><div><div><h3>Navigate Asia in<br/>a new global order</h3><p>Get the insights delivered to your inbox.</p></div></div><p>To demonstrate support, controlling shareholders  Aspial Corp  and non-executive chairman Koh Wee Seng have provided irrevocable undertakings to subscribe for their full provisional allotments of 43.7 million and 6.1 million preferential offering shares, respectively.</p><p>Koh has also entered into a sub-underwriting agreement to subscribe for up to five million unsubscribed preferential offering shares without receiving a sub-underwriting fee. SAC Capital will underwrite the remaining preferential offering shares.</p><h2>Fuelling strategic growth</h2><p>Aspial Lifestyle – which has the Maxi-Cash, Lee Hwa and Goldheart brands in its stable – plans to deploy the bulk of the funds towards strategic growth initiatives.</p><div><div><div><p>SEE ALSO</p><div><div><div><div><p><img height="3317" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/ed2a94783f5c0aa11f046e1d63c74270c93cabaf3c182610448a0a7aaa62bce5/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="3323" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/ed2a94783f5c0aa11f046e1d63c74270c93cabaf3c182610448a0a7aaa62bce5/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw"/></p></div><p></p><h3><span>Aspial Lifestyle moving to SGX mainboard on May 4 after meeting public float requirement</span></h3><p></p></div></div><div><div><div><p><img height="2362" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/0e4d3596794e8638ea26f805785014f5579e38f2840a34b4b8fcb7ed64977736/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="3548" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/0e4d3596794e8638ea26f805785014f5579e38f2840a34b4b8fcb7ed64977736/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw"/></p></div><p></p><h3><span>Aspial Lifestyle prices S$28 million in fixed-rate notes due 2029 at 5.1% </span></h3><p></p></div></div><div><div><div><p><img height="3317" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/ed2a94783f5c0aa11f046e1d63c74270c93cabaf3c182610448a0a7aaa62bce5/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="3323" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/businesstimes/ed2a94783f5c0aa11f046e1d63c74270c93cabaf3c182610448a0a7aaa62bce5/query-ZHByPTEmZj13ZWJwJnc9MjQw"/></p></div><p></p><h3><span>Aspial Corp H2 profit rises 34% on subsidiary’s strong performance but no dividend declared </span></h3><p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>About S$67.8 million, or 80 per cent of the gross proceeds, is earmarked for general corporate activities.</p><p>These activities include business expansion, investments into the group’s growing pawnbroking and secured lending businesses, as well as potential strategic acquisitions.</p><p>Another S$15.3 million, or 18 per cent, will go towards general working capital requirements and the repayment of bank borrowings. The remaining S$1.7 million will cover estimated professional fees and expenses related to the fund-raising.</p><p>The board stated that the exercise will strengthen the group’s financial position and provide the flexibility to seize growth opportunities in the pawnbroking and secured lending sectors, which it believes has demand and long-term potential.</p><p>Furthermore, the issuance of the 211 million new shares is expected to expand the company’s free float. The group’s total number of issued shares, excluding treasury shares, will increase from 1.9 billion to 2.1 billion, which is anticipated to improve the trading liquidity of the stock.</p><p>The private placement shares are expected to be listed and commence trading on May 25, while the preferential offering shares are slated for listing on Jun 17.</p><div><p>Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. <span>Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter.</span> Delivered to your inbox. 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<p>Aspial Lifestyle announced a proposed equity fund raising exercise to raise approximately S$84.8 million, consisting of a private placement of S$60 million and a preferential offering of S$24.8 million, both priced at S$0.402 per share. The funds will primarily support strategic growth initiatives, including business expansion and investments in pawnbroking and secured lending. The issuance of 211 million new shares is expected to enhance the company's financial position and trading liquidity. The private placement shares are set to list on May 25, while the preferential offering shares will list on June 17.</p>

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Aspial Lifestyle to raise S$84.8 million via equity to fuel expansion