19th Mar 2008 11:57
Merchant House Group PLC19 March 2008 19 March 2008 Merchant House Group PLC ( "MHG" or the "Company") Singapore corporate finance arm marks latest restructuring step Merchant House Group plc, the AIM listed merchant banking business, is taking a49% stake in a new venture aimed at bringing Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysiancompanies to the London market. The new company, Merchant Capital Pte Ltd (MCPL), based in Singapore and whichwill trade in the region as Merchant Capital Singapore, has already a number ofpotential clients involved in computer manufacturing, hotel television content,education and food distribution to explore the possibility of their listing onPLUS. Merchant House Group will own 49% of MCPL, a new company with minimal issuedshare capital and the balance of 51% will be held by the local management team.MCPL will be managed by Adam Chan and Tony Sanichara, who bring extensivecorporate finance experience ranging from venture capital to M&A management aswell as an invaluable knowledge of the Asian market. It is envisaged that MCPLwill introduce business to MHG's corporate finance business, Merchant Capital,in London. Tony Sanichara, Director of MCPL, said: "In two years, the Singapore small capmarket (SESDAQ) will be changing. There are over 150 companies listed on thisexchange which will need to seek admission to the main board or secure a sponsorfor the CATALIST board the new, sponsor supervised successor to SESDAQ, and ispart of the Singapore Stock Exchange. This might prove a barrier for some of thesmaller, fast growing companies currently on SESDAQ". MHG Chairman, Martin Eberhardt, said: "We see this as the next important step inthe restructuring and consolidation of the group. MCPL will see opportunities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia where access to the London capital marketswill provide alternatives for fast growing companies in these competitivemarkets." The establishment of MCPL is the latest in a series of recent moves initiated tobroaden the corporate and merchant banking services provided by Merchant HouseGroup by utilising its new business model which has been devised to increaserevenue and operating margins through revenue sharing partnerships that willfunction on a low cost basis. Within the past few weeks, MHG has also announced its link with Merchant LegalLLP and the formation of Merchant Wealth Management Ltd, together with therestructuring of the corporate finance activities of Merchant Capital. Lastweek, the company announced a fundraising in order to build a broking andfundraising business. Along with Merchant House Finance Ltd, a leasing and asset finance joint ventureof which MHG holds 49%, the group is now positioned to offer full cycle financeservices ranging from fund-raisings and PLUS listings as corporate advisors,through to wealth realisation and management. For further information contact: James Holmes, Director, Merchant House Group plc: 020 7332 2200Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: 020 7242 2666Alex Borrelli, Shore Capital and Corporate Limited: 020 7408 4090 Tony Sanichara has an MS in Finance and an MBA. He has worked for number ofcompanies in different parts of the world including as a CEO of Nashua GlobalServices Pte Ltd and as a Senior Vice President of Foundation Technology CorpInc. Adam Chan was educated at Universities in Australia and Japan. He has been abusiness development executive responsible for corporate channel development andin 2005 was appointed CEO of IE English sdn bhd to oversee a corporaterestructuring. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
MHG.L