GP IPO pulls in huge crowd

Investors line up for subscription of the Grameenphone IPO in front of the principal branch of Bank Asia at Motijheel in Dhaka yesterday. The telecom operator received a good response on the first day of five-day subscription period.Photo: STARStar Business Report

Grameenphone yesterday received overwhelming responses on the first day of its five-day nationwide subscription for an initial public offering (IPO), the largest of its kind in the history of Bangladesh capital market.

Hundreds queued up outside several bank branches in Motijheel, Dhaka's commercial hub.

Prospective investors from across the country, comprising retired officials to students, converged at 503 branches of the 15 selected banks and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, to deposit money against Grameenphone shares.

“We are delighted at the response for the shares on the first day of the Grameenphone IPO subscription and hope the sentiments and interest will continue,” said Silmat Chisti, head of Capital Markets of Citigroup Global Markets Bangladesh Private Ltd, issue manager of the IPO.

“We seek support from all capital market stakeholders to complete the landmark transaction smoothly,” she added.

Grameenphone, the country's largest mobile phone operator, looks to raise Tk 486.08 crore from the public by issuing 69,439,400 ordinary shares worth Tk 10 each, in addition to a Tk 60 premium per share.

The market lot has been fixed at 200 shares, which means a prospective investor will have to deposit Tk 14,000 along with his/her IPO application.

The subscription will close Thursday for resident Bangladeshis, but will remain open for non-resident Bangladeshis till October 18.

Grameenphone, which received the final approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 20, will use proceeds from the issue to expand its network and develop information technology and for general corporate purposes.

Brokerage houses and merchant banks were busy till yesterday to open new BO (beneficiary owners') accounts, which fresh investors will use in the Grameenphone IPO.

“We are experiencing intense pressure from new comers to open BO accounts,” said a broker.

Some 2,00,000 new BO accounts have so far been opened, targeting the Grameenphone IPO, and the figure may reach 3,00,000.

Grameenphone is 62 percent owned by Telenor of Norway and the rest by Grameen Telecom, a subsidiary of micro-finance giant Grameen Bank, which was set up by Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

It has around 21.16 million of Bangladesh's fast growing 48 million cellular subscriber base. It is also the country's largest private company by revenue.