Dezign Format surges over 40% at SGX Catalist trading debut

Spatial design specialist Dezign Format’s share price rose by more than 40 per cent on Friday (Aug 15) morning on its trading debut on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The shares opened at S$0.265. As at 9.02 am, the counter was up 37.5 per cent at S$0.275 from its initial public offering (IPO) of S$0.20 apiece, before climbing to S$0.28 by 9.06 am. It reached a high of S$0.285 at 9.06 am, up 42.5 per cent, and then last eased to S$0.28 at 9.07 am, after 4.4 million securities changed hands.

The design agency’s placement of 32.5 million shares at S$0.20 apiece brought in S$6.5 million; the shares were fully subscribed as at noon on Wednesday.

Mike Chong, executive chairman and chief executive of Dezign Format, said: “The proceeds from this offering will support our regional expansion strategy, including the establishment of our Malaysia production facility and sales offices in Thailand and Vietnam.”

He added that the company’s “growing location-based entertainment segment and its venture into virtual reality experiences... align with the increasing demand for immersive and experiential offerings”.

The group’s investors include Asdew Acquisitions, Lion Global Investors, Maybank Asset Management Singapore and Nikko Asset Management Asia.

Dezign Format’s initial public offering (IPO) is the fifth listing that the local bourse has had this year, after that of automotive solutions provider Vin’s Holdings, Info-Tech Systems, NTT DC Real Estate Investment Trust, and Lum Chang Holdings; there was also a secondary listing by China Medical System.

Founded in 1988, Dezign Format focuses on experiential design in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions sector, and is behind various visual installations in Singapore.

Its post-IPO market capitalisation is S$40 million, based on the group’s invitation price and the post-invitation share capital of 200 million shares. The listing joins SGX’s growing industrials sector, which has a total market capitalisation of S$133 billion.