IMMERSIVE entertainment group Neon is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore that may raise as much as S$500 million, sources said.
The company, which is backed by Temasek’s 65 Equity Partners, has interviewed financial advisers for a potential offering that could take place as soon as next year, they added, asking not to be identified as the process is private.
The sources noted that a first-time share sale may raise S$400 million to S$500 million, but details such as size and timing could change as deliberations are ongoing.
Phone calls and e-mails to Neon’s investors relations and press department went unanswered, and the company did not respond to attempts to reach it via LinkedIn.
Only US$19.5 million has been raised in IPOs in Singapore this year, in a solitary first-time listing by Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine, set for the lowest amount in decades. SCI Ecommerce is also planning to list on the domestic bourse next year, Bloomberg News reported this month.
Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone is considering listing a global data centre real estate investment trust in Singapore, people familiar with the matter said.
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Neon produces immersive experiences with franchises including Marvel’s Avengers, Jurassic Park and The Hunger Games, its website showed. It also partners the governments of Peru and Egypt on exhibitions of historical sites.
In October 2022, 65 Equity Partners invested S$150 million in Neon. This came after the company – which was called Cityneon Holdings at the time – concluded a private funding round that raised S$235 million.
Investors included Pavilion Capital, Temasek’s SeaTown Holdings International unit and an investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
Neon also counts China’s Citic Capital and Qatar’s Doha Venture Capital among its backers. Last year, Neon had been considering raising about US$200 million in fresh capital to help expand.
It listed in Singapore in 2005, raising about S$5.3 million. A consortium led by entrepreneur Johnson Ko and Cityneon’s then executive chairman Ron Tan took the company private in a S$318 million deal in February 2019. BLOOMBERG
