The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has imposed a two-year lock-in on Robi Axiata Limited’s 13.6 crore shares, which will be allotted under the latter’s employee share purchase plan (ESPP).
The duration of the lock-in period will begin from the first day of Robi's trading in bourses.
Robi, the second largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, in its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus mentioned that the company received Tk136.05 crore as share money deposit from its employees to issue the shares at an issue price of Tk10 each.
Robi urged the BSEC to treat the issuance in ESPP as public holding shares, so that the existing three-year lock-in provision does not apply for them.
As per public issue rules, sponsors and directors of a newly listed company cannot sell their stakes in the first three years from the first trading day.
Robi's three-year lock-in period on the shares of sponsors, however, will remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, the subscription of Robi Axiata’s IPO will begin on November 17, with which the company aims to raise Tk523.79 crore from the capital market under the fixed price method.
The IPO subscription will remain open for both resident and non-resident Bangladeshis until November 23.
Earlier, BSEC on September 23 approved the prospectus for initial public offering of Robi, the second largest mobile operator in the country.
Under the fixed price method, Robi Axiata will offload 52.38 crore shares for Tk10 each. The main objective of the IPO is to expand its existing network coverage.
It is slated to be the country's biggest-ever initial public offering.
In 2009, Grameenphone became the first mobile operator in Bangladesh when it made its debut on the two bourses. It raised Tk486.07 crore.
As the second entrant under the telecommunication sector in the capital market, the listing of Robi will significantly boost market capitalization, said the issue manager of IDLC Investments Limited.
According to the financial statement ending December 31, 2019, the company's net asset value (NAV) per share was Tk12.64 while earnings per share (EPS) were Tk0.04.
Robi's authorized capital is Tk6,000 crore and paid-up capital is Tk4,714 crore.
In 2019, the company’s net profit was Tk16.90 crore, which was Tk214.7 crore in the previous year.
Robi is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh, with a subscriber base currently at 46.9 million, thus representing 29.9% of the total number of subscribers.
Robi Axiata is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and Bharti Airtel of India. Axiata holds 68.69% controlling stake in the entity, and Bharti holds the remaining 31.31% share in the company.
The company commenced operations in 1997 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name ‘Aktel’.
In 2010, it was rebranded as ‘Robi’ with the company changing its name to Robi Axiata Limited.
Following the merger with Airtel Bangladesh, the merged company, Robi Axiata Limited (Robi), started its commercial operations on 16 November 2016.
Currently, this is the biggest ever merger of the country and the first ever merger in the mobile telecom sector of Bangladesh.
On March 2, Robi submitted an application in relation to the proposals to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.
