Robi Axiata, the largest ever IPO in Bangladesh’s capital market history, will make its shares trading debut from December 24 (Thursday) under “N” category.
Thousands of investors are eagerly waiting for the trading debut of Robi shares which is definitely a milestone for the Bangladesh capital market, said a merchant banker.
“Inclusion of a large corporate body like Robi Axiata will have a positive impact and increase the confidence about the market,” he said.
The most significant feature is that Robi joined the stock market with the largest-ever issue having 523 million ordinary shares of Tk 10 each, he said.
Robi, the country’s second largest mobile phone operator, which received regulatory approval from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on September 23, raised a capital of above Tk 5.23 billion under the fixed price method.
As per the regulatory approval, the telecom sector company issued roughly 523 million shares with par value of Tk 10 each and raised a fund worth more than Tk 5.23 billion from a wide range of investors including its own employees under the fixed-price method.
Of the total fund, Tk 1.36 billion collected from its own employees under the employee share purchase plan (ESPP) and nearly Tk 3.88 billion through initial public offerings.
Subscription of Robi was held between November 17 and November 23. IDLC Investments is the issue manager of Robi.
According to the company’s statement, applications for Robi’s IPO shares have been oversubscribed by 5.74 times against the public offering of nearly Tk 3.88 billion.
The IPO proceeds will be used to expand the company’s network in anticipation of revenue-generating opportunities in the areas such as Internet-of-Things.
In the first nine months of 2020, Robi’s revenue grew by about 1.0 per cent year-on-year to Tk 56.44 billion. Profits rose 1.9 per cent to Tk 1.16 billion, according to the company’s financial report.
Robi has a subscriber base of 51 million at the end of November this year, which is 30 per cent of the total market share. Of them, 34.7 million use the internet.
Robi was the first operator to roll out 3.5G services in Bangladesh. It introduced 4.5G services across all 64 districts in 2018.
Its pre-IPO paid-up capital was Tk 47.14 billion and turnover Tk 74.81 billion in 2019, according to the draft prospectus.
The mobile phone operator started its journey in 1997 under the brand name of Aktel. It then changed its name to Axiata (Bangladesh) in 2009 and took the present name Robi Axiata in 2010.
Axiata holds a 68.69 per cent stake in the company and Delhi-based Bharti Airtel owns the remaining 31.31 per cent.
