Sri Lankan bank helps Maldivian bank raise over US$ 15 million through initial public offering
Sri Lanka’s NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) has reportedly said it had helped Maldives Investment Bank (MIB) raise 244.1 million Maldivian rufiyaa (approximately US$ 15.8 million) through an initial public offering.
“The right distribution strategy was critical to the success of MIB’s IPO,” Nilendra Weerasinghe, Chief Corporate Advisory Officer of NDBIB has said in a statement.
“We achieved a record retail participation attracting over 16,000 applications from 20 atolls covering 144 islands.
“This was possible by leveraging MIB’s resources, including the branch network and ‘Infinity’, the online application portal of the Maldives Stock Exchange.”
According to reports, NDBIB had earlier managed the IPO of Ooredoo Maldives PLC, a unit of Ooredoo Group, a Qatar based telecom firm.
“We look forward to raising debt and equity capital to enable growth as a part of our strategy of regional play,” Darshan Perera, CEO of NDBIB has noted.
MIB had issued 4,500,000 new Ordinary Shares raising 157.5 million rufiyaa, while the majority shareholder, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, had sold down another 2.475 million for 86.6 million rufiyaa.
The sale had been oversubscribed 1.5 times.
OSL take:
The assistance by a Sri Lankan commercial bank towards a Maldivian bank to raise over US$ 15million is indicative of the strength and growth of Sri Lanka’s banking sector. The economic policies of the country that have resulted in the overall growth of Sri Lanka’s banking sector would undoubtedly serve the requirements of the foreign businesses/investors exploring opportunities in the island.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/02122019/Z_1 |