SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Credit Bureau Asia began its trading debut at $1.13 on the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) mainboard on Thursday (Dec 3), 21.5 per cent or 20 cents above its initial public offering (IPO) price of 93 cents per share.

The credit and risk information solutions provider was among the most active counters in early trade. As at 9.09am, the counter was trading 2.7 per cent or three cents higher at $1.16, with some 3.7 million shares changing hands.

The company on Wednesday evening announced that its public offering of 1.5 million shares had been subscribed 60.8 times, with "strong interest" for its 28.5 million placement shares from institutional and other investors.

Separately, cornerstone investors Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia), Affin Hwang Asset Management, Eastspring Investments (Singapore) and Tokyo Shoko Research had subscribed for a total of 28 million new shares, constituting a 12.2 per cent stake in the company after completion of the offering and the issuance of the cornerstone shares.

With a total of 230.39 million issued shares, based on the IPO price, Credit Bureau Asia's market capitalisation is about $214.3 million.

The net proceeds that the company has raised amount to $23.6 million, of which it intends to use $11.8 million for strategic investments, regional expansion and acquisitions.

Another $7.1 million will be used for organic growth initiatives such as product development and business development, while the rest has been allocated for general corporate and working capital purposes.