Vodafone Qatar’s initial public offering (IPO) for QR3.38bn was subscribed by 82,000 Qatari individuals and some 273 institutional investors, making it the “largest in the world” so far this year.
The individual investors subscribed to 65% of the shares on offer. The remaining was notched up by institutional investors.
Vodafone Qatar sold 40% of its stake through the two-week-long IPO, which closed on April 26.
The company offered 338.1mn shares at QR10 each through the IPO, which was fully subscribed, said Vodafone Qatar CEO Grahame Maher.
A significant number of the Qatari national population is now shareholders in Vodafone Qatar, he said.
“We are now 77% Qatari owned,” Maher said.
Terming the initial public offer a “phenomenal success,” Maher said Vodafone Qatar’s offer was at the time of the close of the subscription period, the largest IPO in the world in 2009.
“For comparison, globally there have been 11 IPOs of more than $50mn per offering in 2009 that raised $2.1bn in total. Vodafone’s IPO in Qatar raised around $1bn or almost half of all of the other IPOs put together. The result is amazing” Maher said.
He said such a response to the IPO would not have been possible in any other country at this time of economic uncertainties. “Qatar has demonstrated again it is the leading global economy. Vodafone is very fortunate to be here and I want to reinforce my sincere gratitude to HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad of Qatar Foundation, ictQATAR and the government of Qatar and for their support and trust.”
Vodafone Qatar chief financial officer John Tombleson said there were many offers from Qatari institutions for above the ‘maximum institution subscription caps’, which was 1.69mn shares. Vodafone Qatar was unable to accept such offers due to the structure outlined in the IPO prospectus. The IPO structure was meant to encourage more individual and small-scale investors to subscribe to the shares.
“This indicates there could be strong early demand once Vodafone Qatar is listed on the Doha Securities Market, which we expect to happen either in the last week of June or early July,” Tombleson said.
Individual investors were allowed to apply for a minimum subscription of 250 offer shares with multiples of 50 offer shares thereafter. The maximum subscription of offer shares by an individual investor was 1,690,800.
Institutional investors were able to apply for a minimum subscription of 25,000 offer shares with multiples of 500 thereafter. The maximum subscription by an institutional investor was also set at 1,690,800 offer shares.
The IPO was limited to Qataris and Qatari institutions. But international investors will be able to buy Vodafone Qatar shares once it is listed on the Doha Securities Market after the IPO.
Tombleson said allocation of shares would be finalised on or before May 10.
Shareholders will be advised of their subscriptions by SMS and mail.
Further details will be available at the Constituent General Assembly Meeting on May 26.
http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=288553&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
