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[ CLSF JOURNAL ] WATERSHED YEAR FOR CLSF IPO TEAMS 2003 was a watershed year for the Corporate Finance and Audit Teams at CLSF. The firm secured the most number of IPO (Initial Public Offer) jobs in its history. We were the Reporting Accountants for 9 companies' IPO, accounting for 17% of the total number launched for the year in Singapore. Preparatory work is in progress for at least another 13, 4 of which are the listing of PRC companies here. The stable of listed companies for which Chio Lim & Associates is the auditor now stands at 24. In October 2003, CLA also acted as the Reporting Accountants to the Reverse Takeover of TSM Resouces Ltd by Silver Bridge International Group Holdings Pte Ltd, one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of milk products in the PRC. The acquisition sum of S$56m for Silver Bridge was raised through the allotment and issue of 224m new shares at S$0.25 each. A Reverse Takeover, sometimes known as a "back door listing", normally is a transaction that results in a private company going public without undertaking the traditional IPO route. In this case, shareholders of the private company will sell all or part of their shares in the company to the public company in exchange for the latter's shares, resulting in the shareholders of the private company obtaining effective control of the listed company. The IPOs handled in the second half of 2003 were:
The Enterprise 50, supported by the Economic Development Board, was established to recognise the contributions made by local enterprises. From the inaugural list published in 1995, the Enterprise 50 has become the definitive list of the fifty most enterprising, privately-held local companies in Singapore. Our heartiest congratulations go to the following clients for having made it to the Enterprise 50 Award 2003. They make up 14% of the list this year, while last year, CLSF's clients accounted for 18% of the list.
Starting from academic year 2003/4, CLSF will be sponsoring 2 non-bonded scholarships worth S$5000 per year, to be awarded to financially needy third year Accounting undergraduates at the Singapore Management University (SMU). This marks the latest contribution to education by the group. The group has been similarly supporting Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic with bursaries and book prizes since 1989.
The inaugural BlueSky Finance Fair was initiated by The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) on 30 July 2003 at Suntec City. ACE, led by Mr Raymond Lim, Minister of State (Trade and Industry & Foreign Affairs), aims to foster greater entrepreneurship in Singapore through close collaboration between the private and public sectors. The Fair provides SMEs with a platform to seek information on the various sources of finance and financial tools. It was a day packed with entrepreneurs and information talks by bankers and consultants on various finance topics ranging from Managing Cash Flow to Financing Acquisitions, and Financing Overseas Expansion. Stone Forest's talks on "The Art of Buying a Business" and "Raising Private Equity – Getting the Right Mindset" were packed full-house. Forum on Growing Companies Director of Business Advisory Tay Woon Teck spoke on "Mergers & Acquisitions of SMEs – Survival Kit and Case Studies" at a forum on Growing Companies on 29 October 2003, jointly organised by Sirius Venture Consulting and SBI E-2 Capital, in conjunction with Global Entrepolis@Singapore. The forum helped growing companies identify strategies, industry and consumers' trends and fund raising needs, with speakers from venture capital companies, banks, leading SMEs and academia.
Besides our involvement in the key finance events, partners and directors of CLSF were invited by several external parties to address topics ranging from finance to tax and business management. Here's a snapshot:
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