Royal Footwear has decided to withdraw its plan to raise Tk 12 crore through a Qualified Investor Offer (QIO) on the SME platform of the stock market, citing delays in the approval process. The company now plans to arrange the required funds through bank loans or its own resources.

The company’s board of directors unanimously approved the decision at a meeting held on November 5. It has subsequently sought permission from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to withdraw its QIO application and requested a refund of the Tk 120,000 consent fee deposited for the process.

The BSEC approved Royal Footwear’s proposal to raise Tk 12 crore through a QIO on July 14. It was the first QIO approval issued by the newly formed commission. The regulator issued a consent letter to the company on August 2, and Royal Footwear submitted its final prospectus for review on the same day.

According to the consent letter, the prospectus was supposed to be reviewed within three working days. However, the process was not completed within the stipulated timeframe. Instead, the BSEC sought an explanation from the company on August 10, asking it to respond by August 16. Royal Footwear submitted its response within the deadline.

Later, on September 28, the BSEC instructed the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) to inspect the company’s office. The CSE conducted the inspection on September 30, following which Royal Footwear submitted the required information and documents.

The company claimed that despite complying with all requirements and instructions from the BSEC and CSE, the QIO process made no significant progress.

In its letter to the regulator, Royal Footwear said the prolonged process and its urgent funding requirements had prompted the board to pursue alternative financing options.

The company deposited Tk 120,000 as a consent fee with the BSEC on July 29 for the QIO process. Alongside permission to withdraw its application, it has requested the regulator to refund the fee.