Figma targets $18.8 billion valuation in US IPO after bumping up price range
The design software firm, along with some of its investors, is looking to raise $1.18 billion by selling nearly 37 million shares priced between $30 and $32 each. That compares with its prior proposed price target of between $25 and $28 each.
The new valuation puts Figma closer to the $20 billion it had commanded when Adobe agreed to buy it. The Photoshop maker abandoned the deal in December 2023 after facing antitrust roadblocks in Europe and the UK.
The revised terms also reflect investors' growing comfort with trade uncertainty, and their willingness to back favored companies.
Figma reported $228.2 million in revenue for the three months ended March 31, compared with $156.2 million a year earlier, and its net income jumped three-fold to $44.9 million.
After hitting a speed bump when the tariffs were unveiled in April, IPOs have staged a steady recovery. Bankers expect activity to accelerate once the summer lull ends and the fall window opens, driven by strong demand for high-growth listings.
Top market heavyweights with a strong read on investor sentiment are also anticipating a more fertile environment.
Last week, Blackstone's President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said "the dealmaking pause is behind us."
Figma, which is scheduled to price the deal on Wednesday, is expected to trade under the symbol "FIG" on the New York Stock Exchange the next day.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Allen & Company and J.P. Morgan are the lead underwriters of the IPO.
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AsiaOne
6 minutes ago
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Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900m from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates, Singapore News
SINGAPORE — The liquidators for three companies of Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged nickel-trading fraudster at the centre of a $1.5 billion nickel trading scam, scored a legal victory on July 29 to recover more than $900 million from nine former directors and employees for their role in Singapore's biggest Ponzi scheme. In 2021, the liquidators of Envy Asset Management (EAM), Envy Global Trading (EGT) and Envy Management Holdings (EMH) sued Ng, former directors Lee Si Ye and Ju Xiao, and former employee Cheong Ming Feng. Court documents state that Ng's three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.2 million (S$357 million) and €980,000 (S$1.4 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading. Of those sums, $593 million, US$192.2 million and €880,000 remain outstanding to investors. In a 180-page judgment issued on July 29, the liquidators, who are represented by lawyers David Chan, Daryl Fong and Lin Ruizi of Shook Lin & Bok, were awarded damages after Ms Lee, Mr Ju and Mr Cheong were found to have breached their duties. They also received damages for fraudulent trading by Mr Ju. The trio were also ordered to pay back about $27 million in commission payments, profit sharing, bonuses, CPF payments, directors' fees and dividends. The High Court, however, ruled that the July 29 judgment is "not binding" on Ng, who was made bankrupt in December 2022. Civil proceedings against the former managing director of EGT and EAM stopped as a result. Ng's criminal trial on 42 charges ended on July 7 after he opted not to take the stand. He had faced a total of 108 charges over offences including cheating, forgery, fraudulent trading, money laundering and criminal breach of trust. 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There was also "compelling evidence of the shocking level of ineptitude and nonchalance" on the part of Ms Lee, who allegedly helped Ng cover up details of fraudulent transfers of $416.5 million and US$17.7 million to his own bank accounts under false pretences, according to the ruling. She was found to be "grossly negligent" but "did not have actual knowledge" of the Ponzi scheme as she and her own family members and loved ones also invested in the scheme, the judicial commissioner pointed out. As for Mr Ju, the High Court found that he was in breach of his director's duties and liable for fraudulent trading, among other things. "That he was willing to forge documents, fraudulently change the paid-up capital sums for EGT and mislead investors... spoke to his entire approach to his role as a director and employee of the company. These actions also reflect his willingness to be complicit in whatever he was asked to do. This made a mockery of his duties as a director of EGT," the judge said. Mr Cheong, the former employee, knew that he was creating forgeries, and also became aware that these were being circulated to both internal employees and external investors, but the High Court found that he did not know that such actions were being done to prop up a sham scheme. For one thing, Mr Cheong was "not particularly sophisticated and possessed a rather rudimentary understanding of the business". His own investments "started even before he joined the Envy companies and he had assisted some of his friends to do the same, which suggests that he himself bought into the logic of the purported nickel trading", the judicial commissioner said. Regardless of whether Ms Lee, Mr Ju or Mr Cheong had knowledge of the Ponzi scheme, they were still ordered to return most of the monies they had received from the Envy companies. In a separate 62-page judgment released on July 29, the High Court ordered six other former employees of the Envy companies to cough up more than $42 million in fictitious profits, commission payments, profit sharing and referral fees paid to them. This award is subject to a deduction of income tax payments made by these six employees. Former employees Lau Lee Sheng, Benjamin Teo Wei Wen, Shen Xuhuai, Koh Hong Jie (Xu Hongjie), Guo Yujia and Jordan Chua Wei Jian were named defendants in this suit brought by the liquidators. The High Court allowed the liquidators to claw back monies paid to them after finding that the Envy companies "were never under any obligation to pay the commission payments and profit sharing payments to the defendants because the (companies) never made any actual profit". [[nid:720725]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Business Times
6 minutes ago
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Trump's trade deals come with few details to flesh out big numbers
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Sign Up Sign Up But Japanese officials said only 1 per cent or 2 per cent of the total, a maximum US$11 billion, would be investment, with the rest essentially made up of loans. And they said that the 90 to 10 per cent profit split in America's favour, highlighted by Trump's team, only applies to that smaller investment portion. At a minimum, the two countries are describing the accord differently, raising the potential for future snags. 'It's not that US$550 billion in cash will be sent to the US,' Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick put it this way, speaking last week to Fox News: 'This is literally the Japanese government giving Donald Trump US$550 billion.' Lutnick said that Trump would increase tariffs again if Japan reneged on the fund. As for the EU deal, he acknowledged on Tuesday that there's 'plenty of horse-trading left to do'. The EU pledged US$600 billion in new investments. 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Business Times
36 minutes ago
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Kraken seeks US$500 million funding at US$15 billion valuation, The Information reports
CRYPTOCURRENCY exchange Kraken is set to raise US$500 million in funding at a US$15 billion valuation, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Kraken declined to comment on the report. Cryptocurrency-focused companies have been attracting increased investor interest as the digital asset class benefits from regulatory clarity and growing institutional adoption. This trend has also prompted several crypto firms, including custody startup BitGo and asset manager Grayscale, to pursue US listings. Kraken has been actively investing capital to expand into various asset classes and grow its user base. In March, Kraken said it would acquire futures trading platform NinjaTrader in a US$1.5 billion deal. REUTERS
