Amana in Rp 16 m IPO in the Maldives
Ravi Ladduwahetty
Amana Takaful (Maldives) PLC has opened a Maldivian Rupiyaa 16
million (Rs 125 million)Initial Public Offer in the Maldives,
personifying cross border synergies in both capital market development
and financial services. The IPO which opened on Tuesday (20) will close
on October19. The share issue will be for 800,000 ordinary shares at
Rupiyaa 16 each.
Commemorating a significant milestone in the Maldives a special
memento the Amana Takaful Maldives Chairman Tyeab Akbarally
presenting a special memento to Maldives Monetary Authority
Governor Fazeel Najeeb. |
This is the first instance of a Sri Lankan corporate launching a
share issue overseas.
Amana Takaful (Maldives) PLC is a subsidiary of Amana Global Ltd,
which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amana Takaful PLC which is
listed on the floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Amana Takaful Chairman Tyeab Akberally has told a news conference in
Male on the eve of the IPO launch that the primary objective was to
provide an opportunity for more Maldivians to share a part of the
company.
A key feature of the IPO is the pricing strategy. The motivation
behind the relatively lower price is to make it affordable to attract a
larger number of investors. Our expectation is that this will facilitate
the participation of well represented cross section Maldivian society
including expatriates, he said
“We have raised this IPO hoping to make giant inroads into the
Maldivian tourism related market which has been growing phenomenally and
there is unlimited scope in that market despite there being merely a
300,000 population, Amana Takaful Director and CEO Eshan Zaheed told
Daily News Business yesterday.
He said that the scope for tourism related insurance was limitless
with a multitude of insurance infrastructure such as the hotels along
with the countless number of safari boats and yachts.
In addition the company also hopes to leverage on the 100,000 plus
expatriate community there which is mostly Asian and which also includes
over 15,000 Sri Lankans.
“The company will also focus on micro-insurance aimed at health and
other policies to fishermen in the neighbouring islands and atolls.
There has been a very good response to the issue since it was opened on
Tuesday,” he said.
|