SINGAPORE - Catalist-listed Fortress Minerals opened at $0.22 on its trading debut on Wednesday (March 27), up 10 per cent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $$0.20.
As at 9:51am, the counter was trading at $0.215 apiece.
The Malaysia-based miner on Tuesday placed 75 million new shares priced at $0.20 per share to raise a total of $15 million.
Out of the shares placed, 51.25 million shares were subscribed by cornerstone investors at the same price. This includes companies such as First Grand Investment and Teambuild Construction.
Fortress Minerals is principally in the business of exploration, mining, production and sale of iron ore concentrate, primarily to steel mills and trading companies in China and Malaysia. Currently, it produces magnetite iron ore concentrate with TFe grade of 65 per cent and above, mined from the East, Valley and West Deposits in the Bukit Besi Mine in Terengganu, Malaysia.
After deducting listing expenses, $7 million of IPO proceeds will go towards further exploration of its Bukit Besi mine, while $2 million will be earmarked for acquiring and developing new mines. Meanwhile, $3.5 million will serve as general working capital, the company said in its offer document.
Chee Yew Fei, executive director and chief executive officer of Fortress Minerals, said, "It is a great honour to be the first iron ore mining company listed on the SGX-ST. We are excited to see such overwhelming interest from the market in our expertise and asset, as well as the growth potential of the regional iron ore industry."
Mohamed Nasser Ismail, SGX head of equity capital markets, added, "Fortress Minerals joins a growing number of mining exploration and production stocks in our mineral, oil and gas sector on SGX. We look forward to supporting the company as it embarks on further exploration activities in Malaysia and seeks strategic acquisitions in Malaysia and beyond."
With a market capitalisation to about $100 million, the Fortress Minerals listing brings the total number of companies listed on Catalist to 218, with a combined market capitalisation of about $10 billion.
Correction note: An earlier version of the story stated that Fortress Minerals' market capitalisation was about $115 million. Singapore Exchange has since clarified that it should be $100 million.
