Unlike in the USA, the term ’boutique IB’ is rarely used in Singapore. In Singapore, these firms typically dealing in CF / M&A / ECM / IPOs / Restructuring / other advisory work would usually label themselves as boutique finance companies / advisory firms / CF firms / etc etc.
But just for the benefit of our international friends, here is a list of ’boutique IBs’ in Singapore.
Top 5 IPO bookrunners in Singapore
(1) PrimePartners Corporate Finance – Considered the biggest IPO bookrunner outside of the BBs and local banks, PrimePartners has successfully listed more than 40 companies (both Mainboard and Catalist) since it started approximately 10 years ago. Although it typically lists Catalist companies, it does deal in Mainboard listing and also does aid its sponsor companies in the transition from Catalist to Mainboard. Aside from IPOs, PrimePartners also deal in other capital raising, PE and M&A activities.
http://www.primepartners.com.sg/
(2) Canaccord Genuity – Canaccord is the local brother of the Canadian company, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc, which is a full service IB in the international scene involved in IPO, M&A, S&T, Restructuring, Debt advisory, Equity research. Canaccord is also a leading Nominated Advisor to companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and has successfully listed a large number of firms on the LSE. In the late 2000s, Canaccord entered the Asian market by buying over Collins Stewart. To date, it maintains a very lean presence, dealing mainly in Catalist listing on the SGX.
http://www.canaccordgenuity.com/
(3) SAC Capital – SAC Capital is a local CF firm that was fka Sirius Asia Capital. SAC currently deals in IPOs, listco corporate transactions, underwriting and share placement, fund raising, PE investment and Catalist sponsorship activity. SAC also provides advice to private companies. Some of its companies successfully listed include: Tee Land Limited (raised: S$70.2 million), Qingmei Group Holdings Limited (raised: S$57.0 million) and Sinotel Technologies Limited (raised: S$35.7 million).
(4) UOB Kay Hian – You got it, UOB started getting involved in Catalist/Mid-market IPO listing activity not too long ago. In April 2014, the SGX announced that UOB Kay Hian Pte. Ltd. was to be a full sponsor on Catalist in what seems to be a public announcement of UOB’s intention to make its presence in the mid-market IPO community known.
http://www.uob.com.sg/corporate/investment/corp_finance_overview.html
(5) Hong Leong Corporate Finance – HLCF primarily acts as an issue manager in primary and secondary equity fund raising activities (IPOs and rights issues & placements respectively). HLCF also acts as an FA or IFA in various M&A deals, and also provides corporate advisory services to both listed and unlisted companies.
http://www.hlf.com.sg/enterprise/corp_finance/index.html
Though the funds raised by mid-market IBs on Catalist in Singapore are lower than those on the Mainboard, they are by no means insignificant. For example, see this article by The Motley Fool which compares some the IPOs that we saw in 2013 (http://www.fool.sg/2014/01/03/a-look-at-the-ipos-of-2013/). TMF also shows the share price % change since IPO as at January 2014, showing Mr. Market’s (optimistic) perception of Catalist stocks. Let me end off by showing everyone a picture found recently in The Edge magazine which shows a table of the top ECM bookrunners in Singapore. Out of the Top 5 mentioned above, two (UOB and PrimePartners) can be seen below (UOB includes listings done via their IBD).