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GP IPO may run into further delay

Sarwar A Chowdhury and Md Hasan
Grameenphone’s initial public offering is likely to be further delayed, despite fulfilment of the market regulator's conditions by the mobile phone operator, putting the pre-IPO investors, including the institutional ones in disarray.
People close to the matter said the new government has instructed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to await a go-ahead before reaching any decision on any offloading of GP's $65 million, orTk449 crore shares.
The government is now more focused on settling the ongoing crisis stemming from the BDR mutiny. The deadline for the disposal of the GP issue is March 23.
SEC Executive Director Farhad Ahmed said, “The approval of the Grameenphone IPO is under process.”
Experts anticipate such a delay in disposing of the IPO issue may discourage institutional investors, and listing of big companies in future.
“This delay may dampen market interests,” Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, professor of Finance at Dhaka University, told The Daily Star yester-
day.
The commission should approve the IPO without any delay, said Khan, also the former chief executive officer of Dhaka Stock Exchange.
The institutional investors, who got Grameenphone shares through pre-IPO placements, are also pressuring the telecom company to be listed with the stock exchanges as soon as possible
These investors think that their money will remain idle unless the GP share trade debuts.
"As there will be a lock-in system, we will not be able to sell Grameenphone shares within the lock-in period. The more the trade is delayed, the more our investment remains idle,” said an official of an institution.
Yawer Sayeed, managing director of AIMS of Bangladesh, a local asset management company, also said: "We expect the trading of Grameenphone’s share will begin as early as possible. Because our investment remains idle and we will not get any return from the investment as long as share trade debuts.”
Meanwhile, Grameenphone officials also admitted to the pressure they face from pre-IPO shareholders.
“We are ready to list on the market by
our deadline. But it is now subject to SEC nod,” said a high official of Grameenphone.
Oddvar Hesjedal, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, at a press conference in February also expressed his company’s readiness to list on the capital market.
In July 2008, the $ 3.2 billion Gmmprnnhnnc finalised its plan to raise $ 300million (Tk 2,058 crore) — $ 150 million from the stock market and the rest through private placement or pre-IPO.
The company, later in October, said it might cut its planned IPO to S 125million --$ 65 million from stock market and the rest $ 60million through private placement. The company meantime more than halved its IPO package, as foreign institutional investors take least interest because of the ongoing global economic slowdown.
However, the Grameenphone’s $ 60 million pre-IPO was settled with a huge response from the local market. Its pre-IPO placement offer was over-crowded by three times, as it got a strong support from more than 50 local institutional investors.
The GP roadmap made the listing due in September 2008, but it deferred,
as the SEC did not agree with the company's first valuation worth $ 3.7 billion.
Later in a revision, the GP valuation stood at $3.2 billion.
The company then announced to list on bourses by the first quarter of 2009 (January to March). But the final listing may delay again as Grameenphone alreadv said it needs at least four to five weeks to debut after the SEC approval.
Grameenphone officials said they responded positively to some SEC queries last month. And the company's listing now depends on how the regulator responds.
Norway's telecom giant Telenor owns 62 percent of the company, which launched operation in 1997, with the rest 38 percent being held by local Grameen Telecom.
GP now enjoys a healthy balance sheet. Its net profit jumped by 68 percent to Tk 320 crore by the end of 2008, compared to Tk 130 crore a year ago.
GP is the Bangladesh's market leader among six mobile operators having 20.99 million customers, followed b\ Banglalink's 10.33 million and AKTEL's 8.20 million.