Daily Briefing: Average income rose above $4,400 in 2018, Temasek confirms backing Australian private equity firm's $1.96b debut fund

And VC firm Tin Men Capital injects $12.5m more into e-ticket distribution solutions provider GlobalTix.

From Channel News Asia

Employees in Singapore saw their wages grow in 2018, with average income climbing above $4,400 which is well above the median income of $4,232 seen in 2017, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

The median gross monthly income among Singaporeans and permanent residents who were employed full-time was S$4,437 this year, including employer contributions to the Central Provident Fund.

The findings were based on the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey conducted in mid-2018 by the ministry's research and statistics department.

After taking into account inflation, the median gross monthly income grew by 3.5 per cent a year from 2013 to 2018, significantly higher than 1.9 per cent a year from 2008 to 2013, the ministry said.

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

Temasek Holdings’ head of public affairs and managing director confirmed that the state investment firm is a limited partner (LP) in Australian private equity firm BGPH Capital’s US$1.96b debut fund.

BGH was founded in 2017 by former Macquarie Capital Australia and New Zealand head Robin Bishop, former TPG Capital Australia and New Zealand PE head Ben Gray and former TPG exec Simon Harle.

The PE firm closed its inaugural fund at its A$2.6-billion ($1.96-billion) hard cap in May 2018. The capital raise marked the largest-ever debut PE fund for investments in Australia and New Zealand.

Other LPs in BGH’s debut fund are AustralianSuper, the second-largest pension fund in the country, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Singapore’s GIC.

Read more here.

From e27:

Venture capital (VC) firm Tin Men Capital invested $12.5m more into Singapore-headquartered GlobalTix which is a provider of e-ticket distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry.

The cloud-based electronic ticketing platform provides partners and attractions with many features such as real-time sales, pricing & distribution, product bundling (e.g., city passes), and data analytics.

The company claims it currently handles more than US$75 million worth of transactions on its platform annually. It works with sector giants such as Universal Studios Singapore, Singapore Zoo, Kidzania Singapore & Thailand, Waterbom Bali, Singapore Airlines, and Viator and Trip Advisor.

“Although the GlobalTix platform already covers inventory for attractions across Asia, we realise that we can do even better by learning from the success of our coverage of tours and attractions providers in Singapore, and repeating that model by investing in having a direct presence in the key in-bound tourism markets in Asia. As such, the timing is right for bringing in growth capital now to accelerate this expansion,” says Chan Chee Chong, CEO of GlobalTix.

Read more here.