The NDB Investment Bank (‘NDBIB”) recently launched the Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) of Ooredoo Maldives PLC (“Ooredoo Maldives”) on the Maldives Stock Exchange acting as the lead financial advisor and manager to the IPO.
The mandate from Ooredoo Maldives, a subsidiary of Ooredoo Group, a global telecommunications service provider based in Qatar, signifies NDBIB’s pioneering efforts as Sri Lanka’s first investment bank to handle an IPO outside Sri Lanka.
The IPO was launched in the Maldives on April 18, 2017 whilst the offer was opened for subscription on April 30 and is expected to close on May 28.
The initial offer size is set at approximately USD 43 million with a commitment from the shareholders to go up to USD 115 million in the event of an oversubscription in line with the telecommunications licensing requirements in the Maldives.
Commenting on this landmark transaction, Vajira Kulatilaka, Director of NDBIB and CEO of NDB Capital Holdings Limited, said, “We are proud to be associated with Ooredoo Group in our maiden entry in managing regional IPOs.
Our vision was to make NDBIB a regional player in both debt and equity capital markets, and I am delighted to see NDBIB achieve that feat with the Ooredoo Maldives IPO.”
Ooredoo Group is one of the fastest growing telecommunications service providers in the world with a customer base in excess of 138 million and operations in over 10 markets.
Darshan Perera, CEO of NDBIB, commenting on the IPO, said,”NDBIB was awarded this transaction via a competitive bidding process followed by a comprehensive evaluation of technical and commercial proposals.
The bidding process attracted participation from many prominent investment banks in the region and we are honored to have been selected to handle this landmark IPO in the Maldives”.
Ooredoo Maldiveshas recorded a stellar growth story since commencing commercial operations in 2005 as the second mobile operator.
Nilendra Weerasinghe, Vice President and Head-Corporate Advisory, said, “Conducting an IPO in a foreign jurisdiction involved many challenges. We deployed a relatively large transaction team to work on different aspects of the IPO including familiarising ourselves with the regulatory regime, carrying out business due diligence and valuations, and devising a placement strategy considering the needs of the company and the nascent stage of the capital market.”
Ooredoo Maldives has taken a keen interest to broad base the ownership of the company with local roadshows covering all densely populated areas in the archipelago.
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