Singapore's Prime Partners In JV To Float Asian Cos On AIM

Dow Jones Newswires

Singapore's Prime Partners Corporate Finance said Thursday it has formed a joint venture with U.K. investment bank Seymour Pierce to lure Chinese and other Asian companies to float on the London Stock Exchange Group PLC's (LSE.LN) Alternative Investment Market.

The joint venture aims to tap the growing demand from mainland Chinese and other Asian companies for international capital and investors, PPCF Chairman Quek Peck Lim said in a statement.

PPCF is part of Prime Partners Group, a private equity firm cofounded in 1994 by Hsieh Fu Hua, the current chief executive of Singapore Exchange Ltd. (S68.SG).

Hsieh, on a leave of absence from Prime Partners since being appointed SGX's chief executive in 2003, has spearheaded the exchange's efforts to attract Chinese companies to list in Singapore.

PPCF said it has already got mandates for two mid-sized initial public offerings on AIM, targeting a total of $70 million in fund raising.

Both companies are based in China.

PPCF has 55 corporate finance staff in Southeast Asia and a team in China seeking out deals.

London-based Seymour Pierce, which is majority owned by its employees and private equity firm Alchemy Partners LLP, has 90 professional staff and specializes in listing companies on AIM, which is targeted at smaller firms.