UltraGreen.ai, a rare non-REIT listing for Singapore, jumps in market debut

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By Yantoultra Ngui and Jun Yuan Yong

SINGAPORE, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Singapore’s UltraGreen.ai, a medical imaging company focused on fluorescence-guided surgery, surged 8% in its market debut on Wednesday after its IPO raised $400 million in the city-state’s largest non-REIT offering in eight years.

The stock was changing hands at around $1.56 in morning trade, compared to its IPO price of $1.45 and giving UltraGreen.ai a market capitalisation of $1.7 billion. At one point, it rose as much as $1.60. The benchmark Straits Times Index was up 0.3%.

UltraGreen.ai develops fluorescence-guided surgery technology and supplies indocyanine green or ICG dyes. It is also building an AI-powered surgical intelligence platform.

Proceeds from the IPO will help fund development of core products, strategic acquisitions and expansion across Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

For Singapore, where non-REIT listings are rare, the company’s successful IPO “reflects continued positive market sentiment driven by recent policy reforms with strategic asset allocation initiatives,” said Tay Hwee Ling, Deloitte Southeast Asia’s capital markets services leader.

At pains to attract more companies to its bourse, Singapore has embarked on a series of reforms.

These include making it easier to establish dual listings on the Singapore Exchange and the Nasdaq, plans to cut the minimum number of shares investors must buy, modernise post-trade custody and enhance market-making incentives to lower execution costs.

Singapore leads Southeast Asia’s IPO market this year with nine deals raising about $1.6 billion. UltraGreen.ai was the third-largest IPO for the exchange this year, following NTT DC REIT in July and Centurion Accommodation REIT in September.

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui and Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)