Robi Will Raise Tk 5.2b Through IPO

Robi, the country's second largest mobile phone operator, has started preparations to enter the capital market. Robi's parent company Axiata has also given conditional permission to raise Tk 523 crore from the Bangladeshi capital market through an initial public offering (IPO). Axiata made the announcement in an announcement on the Malaysia Stock Exchange on Friday. However, the decision was taken at a board meeting of the company on Thursday, Malaysian media The Star Online reported.

The company plans to issue 52 crore 38 lakh shares with a face value of Tk 10 on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to raise Tk 523 crore. Which is 6.83 percent of the total shares of Robi. Of these, 38 crores 77 lakh 42 thousand 400 are ordinary public shares. The Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP) for Robi's directors and employees has 13 crores 60 lakh 50 thousand 934 shares.

Robi's total shares are 471 crores 41 lakh 40 thousand 1. Of this, Axiata owns 323 crores 83 lakh shares, Bharti International owns 116 crores 85 lakh shares and Japan's NTT DoCoMo owns 29 crores 73 lakh shares.

According to Axiata, the IPO will provide an opportunity for foreign and domestic investors as well as directors and employees of the company to own shares in the company.

Robi has already started activities for its IPO. It will be possible to complete the IPO and registration by the fourth quarter of this year (September-December). For IPO, IDLC has appointed Investment Limited as its issue manager. And Malaysian CIMB has appointed Investment Bank as an IPO consultant.

Axiata hopes that registering in the Bangladeshi capital market will have a positive impact on Robi's business expansion as well as the company's image.

The number of Robi subscribers in the country is now 4 crores 73 lakh, which is about 30 percent of the total number of subscribers in the country. Axiata Robi, a Malaysian company, owns 68.7 percent of the stock.