Robi Axiata, the second-largest operator in Bangladesh by subscribers will get IPO nod from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) within next month.
“The application of Robi Axiata is almost good. We will approve it as soon as possible to infuse some dynamism in the battered market,” Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, BSEC chairman told Business Mirror.
A huge numbers of IPO application has been deposited with the BSEC but most of them could not fulfill regulatory requirements., Prof. Islam said.
Robi Axiata, submitted an application to the country’s regulator for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds for a planned network expansion early this year.
The operator would use the majority of the BDT5.24 billion ($61.8 million) it aims to raise in the IPO to upgrade its network.
Malaysia-based Axiata Group holds a 68.69 per cent interest in the operator.
In a stock marketing filing, the parent company said Robi Axiata applied to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission for a listing on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.
At a press conference in late February, Robi Axiata insisted tax cuts were a condition for moving ahead with the listing. CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed it pushed the government to reduce the minimum tax on revenue to 0.75 per cent from 2 per cent and cut the corporate tax rate from 45 per cent to 35 per cent for ten years.
Data from GSMA Intelligence showed 4G subscribers accounted for just 4.5 per cent of Robi Axiata’s 49 million users at end-December.
Net profit in 2019 dropped to BDT8 million from BDT103 million in 2018, due mainly to a one-off intra-group gain the previous year.
Meanwhile, India’s Bharti Airtel today said its subsidiary has acquired an additional 6.3 percent stake in Bangladesh’s telecom operator Robi Axiata from NTT Docomo for an undisclosed amount.
This will raise the stake of Bharti International (Singapore) — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel — in Robi Axiata Limited to 31.3 percent from the 25 percent at present, the company said in a filing before the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Recently, Robi — the second-largest telecom operator the country — got approval from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to hand over its 6.3 percent share to Indian multinational company Bharti Airtel.