KARACHI: In an exciting development at Pakistan Stock Exchange, a Gong Ceremony was held to mark the listing of preference shares of Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited (EPCL). The said listing which brings forth a new investment opportunity from EPCL, took place on 31st December, 2020. To open the trading day, the gong was struck by CEO, Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited Jahangir Piracha, amidst presence of the COO, PSX Nadir Rahman, board members of PSX, and senior management of both the organisations, says a Press release.
The leadership and senior management of the Consultant to the Issue – Arif Habib Limited – were also present at the occasion.
Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited planned to raise Rs 3 billion by offering 300 million preference shares of face value of Rs 10/- per share. The shares were offered through Fixed Price Method at an issue price of Rs 10/- per share.
Out of the 300 million preference shares, 262.5 million preference shares (87.5%) were offered to and subscribed by the Pre-IPO investors whereas 37.5 million preference shares (12.5%) were offered to the general public.
The IPO of preference shares of Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited was extremely successful with applications for subscription of more than 202.047 million shares being received against an allocated target of 37.5 million shares in the general public portion of the said IPO. The general public portion of the IPO was thus oversubscribed by 5.39 times or by more than 164.547 million shares/ Rs 1.645 billion.
Speaking on the occasion, the COO, PSX, Nadir Rahman, said, “This was an excellent opportunity to invest in the preference shares of a stable, solid, and growing company. Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited has raised equity capital for further expansion and debottlenecking. The oversubscription level indicates investor confidence in the company. On behalf of Pakistan Stock Exchange, we wish EPCL success”.
The CEO of Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited, Jahangir Piracha, said, “Engro Polymer & Chemical’s Preference Shares issue was a landmark transaction, having raised preference equity on non-rights basis in a very tumultuous year. The success of this issue shows the investors’ confidence in EPCL business and its strategic direction. On this momentous occasion, EPCL wants to thank all participating retail investors and our partners who made this issue a resounding success by subscribing to this instrument. EPCL looks forward to continue to contribute towards the economic growth of the country, creating value for all our stakeholders and playing our part in deepening of Pakistan’s capital markets”.
Shahid Ali Habib, the CEO of Arif Habib Limited who were the Consultants to the Issue, added “I am very pleased with the success of Initial Public Offering of EPCL’s Preference Shares. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we were able to generate an excellent response for the Preference Shares as the IPO was oversubscribed by 5.4x with broad based participation from institutional, corporate & retail investors. It is a proud moment for us at Arif Habib Limited to have facilitated this journey for the Company that has now listed its third instrument on the PSX”.