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GP launches IPO Sunday

Sarwar A Chowdhury
Leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone is set to open its initial public offering (IPO) subscription to the public next week to raiseTk 486.08 crore.
Subscription will begin next Sunday and close on Thursday (October 8). However the oppor-
tunity will remain open to non-resident Bangladeshis up to October 18.
Raihan Shamsi, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said: "We arc optimistic about the launch of die GP IPO next week. Our IPO subscription period for investors will begin nationwide on October 4 and run till October 10 for resident Bangladeshis and October 18 for the nonresident Bangladeshis.”
"We are honoured to be a part of the largest IPO in the history of the Bangladesh capital market and would like to thank SEC, DSE and CSE for their on-going commitment and support to our transaction throughout the process," he said.
Despite concerns over liquidity outflows from the market during subscription period, market insiders anticipate no such impacts.
“Those who intend to bid for Grameenphone shares have already withdrawn money from the market by selling stocks from their portfolios,” Sheikh Mortuza Ahmed, head of merchant banking division of Prime Bank, told The Daily Star yesterday.
It means, he said, the market has already absorbed the first shock and it did not observe any major fall.
Grameenphone, which received the final approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 20, will float 69,439,400 ordinary scares worth Tk 10 each, in addition toaTk60premiumpershare.
As the market lot has been fixed at 200 shares, a prospective investor will have to deposit Tk 14,000 to any of the 15 selected banks and the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh for Grameenphone shares.
Cititgroup Global Markets Bangladesh Private Ltd is the issue manager of the IPO, the largest of its kind in the history of the Bangladeshi market.
The market has been waiting for the Grameenphone IPO for a long time now, but it was delayed several times.
Although Grameenphone finalised its plan to raise S300 million from the capital market in July 2008, it cut the IPO and pre-IPO size to $ 125 million, as the company's valuation dropped to $3.2 billion from a previous $3.75 billion and the foreign institutional investors did not participate in pre-IPO bidding due to the global economic slowdown.
The pre-IPO or private placement was later completed with local participation in December last year. The final prospectus was submitted in January this year.
But the Dhaka Stock Exchange in March this year decided not to list the securities with a face value of Tk 1 and urged Grameenphone to increase its share price toTk 10.
Later, with direction from SEC, Grameenphone increased share prices toTklO.
sarwar@thedailystar.net