AMTD Group, which earlier this year saw the listing of its subsidiary AMTD International on the Singapore Exchange, is set for another Singapore listing before the year ends. The Hong Kong-based financial services company will concurrently list shares of AMTD Digital, its digital solutions arm, primarily on Nasdaq and secondarily on SGX, raising around US$500 million ($681 million), The Edge Singapore understands.
AMTD Digital is engaged in digital financial services, digital marketing and data intelligence, digital connectors and ecosystem building, and digital investments. Under Calvin Choi, chairman and CEO of AMTD Group, the Singapore-headquartered AMTD Digital has been acquiring controlling stakes in a string of FinTech companies here over the past few months. This includes insurance technology company PolicyPal; private market and digital assets exchange CapBridge Financial; and one-stop QR code and digital payment solution provider in Southeast Asia, FOMO Pay.
AMTD Digital will be the first company to list concurrently on SGX and Nasdaq, following an agreement signed between both exchanges on July 21. Under the agreement, the relevant processes for companies seeking to list on both markets have been streamlined.
In April, AMTD International was the first company to list under SGX’s dual class shares structure. About 23.9 million Class A ordinary shares of the company were listed on the Mainboard. Choi indirectly holds 65 million Class B ordinary shares — listed on the New York Stock Exchange — or 28.2% interest in the company.
Ahead of AMTD Digital’s dual listing, the company has appointed Osman Ershad Faiz as its chief information and operating officer on Aug 13. Faiz was previously the chief operating officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore. He also served as head of operations at Bank Permata.
With a dual listing, AMTD Digital is set to anchor AMTD’s aspirations to being a connector between financial markets in the region and globally. The latter is keen to facilitate FinTech opportunities between the city-state, Southeast Asia, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the rest of China. This is through the expansion of its presence via AMTD Digital in Singapore.
“We hope to leverage Singapore as the hub to expand into the broader Southeast Asian market. We see AMTD as a super connector between Southeast Asia and the Greater Bay Area,” Choi previously told The Edge Singapore.
According to a Sept 17 statement, AMTD Digital raised a total of $386 million from well-known Hong Kong entities. They include Value Partners, Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments, Vision Knight Capital, Ariana Investments, Maoyan Entertainment and Infinity Power.
On top of all the various acquisitions made by AMTD, Choi has a bigger prize in his sights. Back in May 2019, AMTD, in partnership with Xiaomi Corp, won a digital bank license in Hong Kong. He hopes to repeat the feat in Singapore, roping in SP Group and Funding Societies.
With this flurry of activities, Choi has an increasingly high profile not just in Hong Kong but also here in Singapore. In recent weeks, the former UBS banker has come under accusations that he was involved with troubled China Minsheng Investment Group Corp (CMIG).
He has denied the allegations in a statement published to the Hong Kong Economic Journal. Choi says he was never appointed as a legal representative or authorised representative of CMIG and/or any of its subsidiaries. He also refutes that he was vested with any authoritative power to direct any transactions from the bank account of CMIG.
