Brac to buy stakes in IPDC
Brac, its sister concern Ayesha Abed Foundation and a private capital firm RSA Capital will acquire a 40 percent stake in Industrial Promotion and Development Company, a non-banking listed financial institution popularly known as IPDC.
The three organisations will purchase 5.05 crore shares from the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a Switzerland-based international development agency that owns around 6.45 crore shares or 51 percent stakes in the IPDC.
The AKFED signed a deal with the three organisations on September 10 to sell and dispose of the IPDC shares from its portfolio.
Of the disposed shares, 25 percent will go to Brac, the world's largest non-governmental organisation, 10 percent to Ayesha Abed Foundation and the remaining 5 percent to RSA Capital.
Although the value of the deal has been fixed, none of the organisations disclosed the amount.
"It is an exciting opportunity for Brac to enter into a strategic partnership with AKFED in taking IPDC to new levels of growth and expansion by providing socially responsible financial services to the people of Bangladesh," said a press statement, quoting Brac Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.
This is a common goal of both Brac and AKFED, it added.
“We greatly value our strategic alliance with Brac and we remain committed to strengthening IPDC as it progresses and grows by increasing its product offering and its outreach to encompass a wider population base in Bangladesh,” AKFED Director Sultan Ali Allana was quoted as saying in the press release.
“We hope that we will be able to expand our strategic alliance, in the coming years as we pursue common values and objectives.”
The strategic alliance is expected to enhance IPDC's capacity for growth and its product offering in the large, medium and small-scale industrial, retail and consumer market segments of Bangladesh.
Contacted, IPDC Managing Director Mominul Islam said: “We are looking forward to this. With Brac's insights, their network and brand image in Bangladesh, they will be better able to guide the IPDC for further growth and diversification.”
The deal is, however, subject to approval from the regulatory bodies, including Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.
Once it is executed, AKFED's stakes in the IPDC will come down to 11.05 percent from 51.05 percent.
The government owns 21.88 percent, institutional investors 12.55 percent and general investors 14.52 percent stakes in IPDC.
On the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday, each IPDC share traded between Tk 20.7 and Tk 20 before closing at Tk 20.1.
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