Daily Briefing: Novo Tellus unit makes partial offer to buy additional 28% in IT firm Procurri; Alchemy Foodtech raises $2.7m, other SEA deals

And revamped Job Redesign Reskilling programme for SG’s hotel industry.

From DealStreetAsia:

Novo Tellus PE Fund 2, the largest shareholder in the Singapore-based IT company Procurri Corporation Ltd, has launched a partial offer to acquire an additional 27.91% of Procurri’s ordinary shares. The proposed purchase will be made through the PE fund’s investment vehicle NTCP SPV VIII.

At $0.365 per share, the offer price is at a premium to historical trading prices and will be made in cash, according to a statement on 15 March. Shareholders have the option to tender up to 100% of their shares for a 32.7% premium over the last traded price.

If the offer is successful, the offeror (NTCP SPV VIII) will hold an aggregate 51% of Procurri.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Alchemy Foodtech, a Singapore-based startup that develops active food ingredients that fight diabetes, has secured $2m (US$2m) in a round led by SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

According to data from VentureCap Insights, Alchemy Foodtech, founded in 2015 by Alan Phua and Verleen Goh, also received commitments from Heritas Capital, Shin Shin International Holdings, and other investors.

The funding round raised the foodtech startup’s valuation, post-money, to $6.2m (US$4.6m).

Alchemy’s key product is Alchemy Fibre, a patented fibre blend that is proven to make carbs healthier. For instance, when added to white rice during the cooking process, Alchemy Fibre for Rice slows down the glucose release of white rice to that of brown rice, whilst increasing the fibre content to 2.5 times that of brown rice.

Read more here.

From HumanResourcesOnline:

Singapore's hotel industry will now be receiving more targeted support under Workforce Singapore's (WSG) Professional Conversion Programme, as part of the revamped and enhanced Job Redesign Reskilling (JRR) Programme for the Hotel Industry.

Through this, the WSG, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union will continue supporting job redesign projects rolled out in tandem with hotels' adoption of technology.

In a press release dated 12 March, WSG said that as a start, 200 existing hotel workers can look forward to taking on enhanced careers in the industry through the JRR Programme.

“As hotels in Singapore prepare for the norm after COVID-19, they are also accelerating their shift towards contactless interactions and crowd management, which are mainly enabled and supported by technology. This shift in turn presents a key opportunity for hoteliers to step up their enhancement of hotel jobs and translate them into more attractive, meaningful and sustainable hotel careers for Singaporeans through job redesign and technology adoption,” it said.

In line with this, existing workers will need to be equipped with the skills to competently assume the new or enhanced job scope augmented by technology.

Read more here.