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AMTD Group Acquires Majority Stake in Blockchain-Powered Securities Exchange Capbridge

AMTD Digital, the integrated digital platform arm of AMTD Group announced that it will soon be a majority shareholder of Capbridge via a “fusion-in program” that “aligns the interest of shareholders on both sides”. The exercise also includes a share swap and is subject to approve from Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Capbridge operates Singapore’s first regulated securities exchange platform for private securities with over US$ 2 billion of investable deals. This news follows a recent investment round where Capbridge secured funding from SGInnovate and Hong Kong’s Cyberport. CapBridge Financial holds a Capital Markets Services Licence through its primary online syndication platform, and the Recognised Market Operator Licence through Singapore’s first regulated private securities exchange, the blockchain-based 1exchange.

This is the second such instance of AMTD strengthening its position in Singapore through similar corporate exercises, in March AMTD announced the acquisition of controlling stake in insurtech startup PolicyPal.

The partnership will combine the private market and digital assets exchange expertise of CapBridge Financial, and the supreme connectivity and inter-connected digital solutions platform strength of AMTD Digital. AMTD Group’s subsidiary AMTD International is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HKIB) and Singapore Exchange Mainboard (SGX-ST: HKB). With AMTD’s overall leadership and support, CapBridge will bring together private capital markets expertise and leading-edge financial technology such as blockchain and robo-advisory to further develop the global private markets and digital asset space from its Singapore headquarters.

Calvin Choi

Mr Calvin Choi, AMTD Group’s Chairman and CEO and AMTD Digital’s Chairman commented,

“Singapore is an important hub for global FinTech community and its ongoing development. AMTD sees the supreme potential of CapBridge’s technological and commercial growth in the Southeast Asian digital asset space and beyond. By becoming the controlling shareholder of CapBridge, we are adding another valuable enterprise to our proprietary and unique AMTD SpiderNet ecosystem.

Johnson Chen

Mr Johnson Chen, founder and CEO of CapBridge, said,

“The Capbridge private markets solution is designed to help growth companies, family owned businesses, as well as institutional and individual investors unlock value in a secure and efficient ecosystem. Being cloud native, CapBridge is entirely digital in our approach to capital raising as well as private equity investing. The current COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital facilitation and interconnectivity when it comes to accessing institutional-grade opportunities. We look forward to combining CapBridge’s offerings with AMTD’s resources and network, digital financial services licenses and institutional investors network to create even more vibrancy and value in Singapore, regional, and global private markets.”

The CapBridge Financial private markets solution helps companies and investors unlock value via a uniquely integrated primary syndication and secondary trading approach.

This transaction is subject to approval from the MAS and closing conditions. Upon completion, CapBridge will join the AMTD ecosystem as a subject matter champion to develop and expand in the global digital asset exchange sector. AMTD will significantly strengthen CapBridge’s deal sourcing, product innovation, customer acquisition, investor servicing capability, as well as research and data intelligence capabilities, leveraging on AMTD’s SpiderNet ecosystem, and supported by AMTD International (NYSE.HKIB; SGX.HKB), AMTD Group’s market-leading investment banking and asset management arm.