Singapore Chili Crabs Reign as Jumbo Wins Restaurant IPO Battle
(Bloomberg) -- The debate over Singapore's favorite crab dish may be settled -- at least on the trading floor.
Shares of restaurant chain No Signboard Holdings Ltd., known in the city-state for its signature white pepper crab dish, jumped 11 percent on its debut Thursday -- an impressive open considering the benchmark index slipped 0.3 percent at the trading start. But the debut of rival Singapore seafood eatery Jumbo Group Ltd. almost exactly two years ago leaves No Signboard's in the dust.
Jumbo, best known in the country for its chili crab dish, jumped 40 percent at the open when it listed in 2015, closing 36 percent higher than its offer price of 25 Singapore cents. Attracting investors that included Heliconia Capital Management Pte, a unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte, the chain raised S$40 million ($30 million).
Investors were similarly hungry for No Signboard's IPO, which raised S$35 million and was oversubscribed 23.6 times by buyers such as JPMorgan Asset Management (Singapore) Ltd. and Lion Global Investors Ltd.
Both companies, which are listed on the junior Catalist market, have plenty of rivals in Singapore's competitive culinary scene where operating costs are a challenge. Jumbo shares are down 12% so far this year.
--With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi
To contact the reporter on this story: Livia Yap in Singapore at lyap14@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Sebastian Tong, Stephanie Phang
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
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