Halcyon

Halcyon: The ‘Popiah King’ effect lives on with food tycoon Sam Goi set to emerge as a substantial shareholder in Halcyon Agriculture, after agreeing to subscribe for a total of 25m new shares at $0.738 apiece via a private placement. The proposed placement price represents a 9.4% discount to the last traded price of $0.815 and will raise gross proceeds of $18.5m. On completion, Goi will emerge with a 5.94% stake in the enlarged share capital of the company. Gross proceeds raised from the placement will be used to further strengthen the capital base of the Company and facilitate continued growth and expansion. The latest fund raising does not come as a surprise, with Halcyon having been on an aggressive acquisition trail over the last 15 months, expanding its rubber licensed capacity by 6.8x to 748,000 tons after the acquisition of Anson Company from Lee Rubber for $450m. Halcyon is also proposing to acquire New Continent Enterprises (NCE), which could enable the company to align its customer mix to match the consumer profile of Natural Rubber, by providing direct access to non-tyre industrial consumers in Europe, North America and China. The acquisitions of Anson and NCE will transform Halycon to become a Top 5 rubber producer globally. Commenting on the deal, Halcyon guided that Goi’s extensive experience of running successful businesses would present an important source of counsel and advice to the group. Separately, Halcyon guided that it is exploring and considering a proposed transfer of listing from Catalist to the mainboard of SGX, which could allow the group to better attract institutional investors and reach out to a wider investor base in future. Investor interest in the stock may be revived, given that Sam Goi’s share purchases are typically closely followed by market watchers. Other SGX companies which Sam Goi has built stakes in include the likes of GSH, Yamada, Serial System, Etika, Super Group, Hanwell and JB Foods.