The long pending higher-priced placement share of Orion Pharma Ltd further hangs in the balance as the High Court (HC) stayed the securities regulator's recent directive to settle it, sources said.
"The HC stayed the directive of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) for six months recently," a lawyer told the FE.
In the directive, given on June 11 in line with separate orders of the Appellate Division and the HC division, the BSEC asked the listed pharmaceutical company to settle the issue with respective investors and report to it on the compliance.
The HC bench comprising Justice Naima Haider and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam also issued a rule asking the respondents concerned to explain as to why the BSEC's directive should not be declared illegal, the lawyer said.
"As a result, the matter of settling the pre-IPO higher-priced placement shares of Orion Pharma immediately became somewhat uncertain," the lawyer said.
Contacted, a counsel of the investors said, "We are taking preparation to further go to the Appellate Division against the recent HC order."
Earlier on May 19, 2013, another HC bench directed the BSEC to dispose of complaints and applications of the investors-cum petitioners within one month from the date of receipt of the order 'without fail'.
Then, the BSEC directed Orion Pharma on June 23, 2013 to dispose of the much-talked about issue.
Thereafter, Orion Pharma went to the Appellate Division. Upon its petition, the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division on June 26, 2013 stayed operation of the HC order.
The full bench of the Appellate Division in March this year dismissed the petition saying that "We find no merit in this petition…"
Following the Appellate Division's order, the BSEC, on May 18 this year, further directed the Orion Pharma to settle the investors' complaints and applications and accordingly inform it about the compliance.
The regulator issued the directive after holding an emergency meeting held at the commission, sources said.
Due to non-settlement of the issue, the investors sent a notice of contempt of court to the securities regulator on May 31.
Then, the regulator issued the latest directive in question on June 11 further asking the company to settle the issue and report to the commission on its compliance by that day.
In a reply letter signed by Mohammad Obaidul Karim, chairman of Orion Pharma Ltd, it informed the BSEC on the same day (June 11) that they tried to resolve the issue with the respective investor under Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) but the attempt failed.
"Still, we are trying to settle this issue at the earliest and keep you (BSEC official) updated on the same on immediate effect," Mr Karim said.
A source said that during the ADR attempt, the company wanted to give back the original amount of money against the higher-priced placement shares but the investors sought the money with due interest.
Finally, the company filed another writ petition with the HC against the BSEC's June 11 directive. Upon the petition, the HC bench issued a rule and stayed the directive for six months recently.
According to a counsel of the investors-- Romana Rouf Chowdhury and Zakia Rouf Chowdhury, they separately bought a total of 2,10,000 placement shares of Orion Pharma Ltd at Tk 100, including premium worth Tk 90, each in 2010.
Later, the company's initial public offering (IPO) price was set at much lower than that they paid for placement share. The IPO proposal got approval with an offer price of Tk 60, including premium of Tk 50 per share.
As a result, the investors together sustained loss of around Tk 8.4 million, he said.
In addition to Tk 8.4 million, the investors are also demanding interest of about Tk 5.9 million for last four and half years.
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