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FundedHere is planning to expand regionally, while Ezion is expected to remain viable despite an increased debt load from recent acquisitions.</article>

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FundedHere is planning to expand regionally, while Ezion is expected to remain viable despite an increased debt load from recent acquisitions.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">FundedHere expands to Malaysia</h3>
Singapore-based <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/fundedhere" target="_blank">FundedHere</a>, a licensed equity and debt- based crowdfunding platform, is planning to expand its reach to mass affluent investors, in additoin to exploring opportunities to expand in Malaysia and Indonesia.
It plans to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia, with Malaysia and Indonesia as its first targets. Leveraging on its foundation in Singapore, the regional expansion will enable companies and investors to conduct cross-border crowdfunding transactions.
Having secured a Capital Markets Services license from the <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/mas" target="_blank">Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)</a> in March 2016, FundedHere says it will begin offering crowdfunded equity or lending opportunities to private investors other than Accredited Investors (AIs), which are defined as individuals with at least S$2 million (US$1.5 million) in net personal assets, excluding the primary residence, or S$300,000 in annual income.
Until recently, FundedHere was only open to AIs, in accordance with MAS guidelines. However, on 17 February 2017, MAS removed this restriction, which will allow FundedHere’s platform to be opened up to mass affluent or Professional Investors (PIs).
“The FundedHere platform is attractive to growth companies because of our high- quality network of AIs. The relaxation of rules means that we can now widen our pool of crowdfunding investors to include PIs, which are much larger in number. Interest in crowdfunding is growing in Singapore and are confident to double our investor pool before the end of 2017,” said FundedHere Partner, Daniel Lin.
Over the past year, FundedHere has helped seven Singapore companies raise a combined S$4 million through its online platform, www.fundedhere.com. These were shortlisted from more than 500 pitch decks before they were offered on the platform. Investors can invest from as low as S$5,000.
Of the funds raised, 40 per cent were made through equity investments of between S$300,000 and S$500,000 in startups. The remaining 60 per cent of funds raised were for crowdlending of between S$200,000 and S$2 million to growth companies.
Unlike equity-based crowdfunding, crowdlending enables companies to bridge short-term funding needs without diluting the founder’s stake in the company.
FundedHere is the first crowdfunding platform to offer bond-funding for companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) Catalist. These short-term ListCo Bonds – of up to S$5 million each with an annual coupon of about 9 per cent – do not require the issue of a prospectus but can only be offered to AIs registered with FundedHere.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Ezion acquisitions impact</h3>
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Thursday morning saw <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/ezion" target="_blank">Ezion</a> consolidating its position with the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent interest in its existing joint venture (JV) with <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.swissco.net/" target="_blank">Swissco</a> for a total cash consideration of S$5 million.
A <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.theedgemarkets.com.sg/article/what-acquisition-remaining-50-stake-jv-means-ezion" target="_blank">report</a> by The Edge Markets notes that this transaction sees S$3.5 million of the total consideration is for the remaining 50 per cent stake in Strategic Offshore Limited (SOL), which owns three rigs assets: GSP Atlas, GSP Orizont and GSP Fortuna, while S$1.5 million is for the remaining 50 per cent interest in Strategic Excellence Limited (SEL). SEL owns the rig asset Strategic Excellence. 
Estimated carrying values of the 50 per cent equity in SOL and SEL are zero and $5.2 million respectively. Assuming the acquisition is effective from 1 January 2016, basic loss per share will narrow from 2.3 US cents to 1.4 US cents. Net tangible assets (NTA) per share will increase from 63.43 US cents to 63.60 US cents. 
According to a UOB Kay Hian note, the acquisition implies a gain of $16 million (S$22.3 million),  which it assumes will be the net negative goodwill amount management had earlier guided it would recognise. Total debt of the acquired assets reportedly stands at $86 million, with $9 million of this overdue.
Immediate repayments will not put pressure on Ezion&#8217;s cash flow, which is facing earnings weakness due to operational difficulties in deploying the vessels. Earning for Q1 2017 are forecast to remain weak and will pick up in Q2 assuming crude prices remain at current levels of US$40-US$50 per barrel.
Also Read:
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/singapore-ma-68744/">Singapore M&amp;A: Ezion acquires stakes in JVs; Forum acquires 80% of Lighthouse</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/sg-dealbook-93-68818/">Singapore: Trendlines Labs secures $200k; JDE controls Super Group; Nam Cheong JV</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/sg-dealbook-top-glove-to-establish-jv-company-68627/">Singapore: Top Glove to establish JV co; Neo Group acquires Park Food Manufacturing</a>

FundedHere is planning regional expansion while despite acquisition, Ezion remains viable. 

Singapore: FundedHere expands into Malaysia; Ezion JV consolidation impact

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Singapore: FundedHere expands into Malaysia; Ezion JV consolidation impact

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