Singapore SPACs backed by Tikehau Capital, Vertex file for listings

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Singapore has inched closer to its first batch of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) after asset manager Tikehau Capital and Temasek-backed Vertex Venture Holdings lodged prospectuses for their blank-check firms in the city-state.

Several funds are planning to list SPACs in Singapore, encouraged by a new set of rules that have made Singapore Exchange the first Asian bourse to allow the investment vehicles that have become Wall Street's biggest gold rush of recent years.

Vertex Technology Acquisition Corp (VTAC), a SPAC that plans to focus companies involved in cyber security, artificial intelligence and fintech, said on Thursday it aimed to raise about S$170 million ($124.97 million) by selling shares at S$5 apiece.

Pegasus Asia said it planned to raise about S$150 million at S$5 per share to target companies in tech-enabled sectors, especially in the Asia Pacific region. It is backed by Europe's Tikehau Capital and Financiere Agache, a holding company of LVMH.

SPACs are shell corporations that merge with an existing company to take that public, offering it shorter listing timeframes and strong valuations.

($1 = 1.3603 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru, Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Aditya Soni)