GP to revise its IPO proposal
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Raihan M Chowdhury and Naim-Ul-Karim
Grameenphone (GP) will revise its initial public offering (IPO) on the back of 'very poor response from both foreign and local investors' as well as non-availability of tax rebate from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
When contacted, Khalid Hasan, director, corporate and regulatory affairs of GP, now in Norway said, "currently GP is working on the necessary documents and audited financial statements in order to comply with the SEC requirements and the process will take time until mid-November."
"We hope to submit our application as soon as the documents are ready," Mr Khalid added.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) held a meeting Monday on the fate of the GP IPO.
"Obviously we talked about the IPO launching by the GP, but I cannot disclose further," an official of the SEC told the FE after the meeting.
"The IPO application of the GP submitted on July 29 last is now 'technically withdrawn' as the company has failed to response to our queries within the stipulated timeframe," chairman of the SEC Faruk Ahmad Siddiqui was quoted as saying in a recent meeting with a group of stock market professionals in the city.
Sources concerned said the GP has also begun reimbursement of the money deposited earlier by the officials of the company against the subscription of the primary shares.
Market insiders said the pre-IPO placement offer received very poor response. A financial institution quoted only Tk 3.00 per share against Tk 11.58 as asked by GP.
Moreover, the NBR has denied a 10 per cent tax benefits to the GP following its pre-IPO placement, compelling the largest cell phone company to revise its IPO.
The NBR cuts corporate taxes of a company by ten per cent if goes public, but it is not applicable to the companies which raise money through pre-IPO placement.
The largest cell phone operator filed its IPO application with the SEC valuing the company at $3.00 billion, the largest in the country.
In its applications, it had planned to raise $150 million in a pre-IPO placement with international and local investors and a further $150 million form country's stock markets.
Norway-based Telenor owns 62 per cent of GP, while Grameen Telecom holds the rest 38 per cent stake.
Grameenphone (GP) will revise its initial public offering (IPO) on the back of 'very poor response from both foreign and local investors' as well as non-availability of tax rebate from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
When contacted, Khalid Hasan, director, corporate and regulatory affairs of GP, now in Norway said, "currently GP is working on the necessary documents and audited financial statements in order to comply with the SEC requirements and the process will take time until mid-November."
"We hope to submit our application as soon as the documents are ready," Mr Khalid added.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) held a meeting Monday on the fate of the GP IPO.
"Obviously we talked about the IPO launching by the GP, but I cannot disclose further," an official of the SEC told the FE after the meeting.
"The IPO application of the GP submitted on July 29 last is now 'technically withdrawn' as the company has failed to response to our queries within the stipulated timeframe," chairman of the SEC Faruk Ahmad Siddiqui was quoted as saying in a recent meeting with a group of stock market professionals in the city.
Sources concerned said the GP has also begun reimbursement of the money deposited earlier by the officials of the company against the subscription of the primary shares.
Market insiders said the pre-IPO placement offer received very poor response. A financial institution quoted only Tk 3.00 per share against Tk 11.58 as asked by GP.
Moreover, the NBR has denied a 10 per cent tax benefits to the GP following its pre-IPO placement, compelling the largest cell phone company to revise its IPO.
The NBR cuts corporate taxes of a company by ten per cent if goes public, but it is not applicable to the companies which raise money through pre-IPO placement.
The largest cell phone operator filed its IPO application with the SEC valuing the company at $3.00 billion, the largest in the country.
In its applications, it had planned to raise $150 million in a pre-IPO placement with international and local investors and a further $150 million form country's stock markets.
Norway-based Telenor owns 62 per cent of GP, while Grameen Telecom holds the rest 38 per cent stake.