Regulator lifts curbs on Appollo Ispat IPO

The stockmarket regulator yesterday withdrew a suspension order on IPO subscription of Appollo Ispat Complex.
The move cleared the way for the corrugated and galvanised sheet manufacturing company to start IPO subscription to raise Tk 220 crore through issuing 10 crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each, in addition to Tk 22 as premium per share.
February, the regulator postponed the IPO (initial public offering) subscription following a letter from the finance minister to suspend the process.
The regulator had approved the IPO in December last year.
Appollo Ispat transferred shares to the complainant shareholders in line with a court order, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement.
The regulator also collected information on the company's tax issues from the National Board of Revenue and that on the loan status of the company's directors from the central bank, and the information was included in the IPO prospectus.
On other issues, the regulator took opinion from Appollo Ispat and that was published in the prospectus.
According to the IPO prospectus, Appollo Ispat will use around Tk 153 crore from the IPO proceeds to repay bank loans, Tk 60 crore for project development and the rest to bear the IPO expenses.
The company will install an environment friendly German technology-based non-oxidising furnace unit for manufacturing lead-free corrugated iron sheet. The new project is expected to come into commercial production in mid-2014.