Bangladeshi mobile operator Grameenphone has filed its final application for an initial public offering (IPO) of US$65 million. The company expects the subscription period for the IPO to be late January or early February next year.
In July, Grameenphone, which is 62%-owned by Norwegian telecom operator Telenor said it planed to raise up to US$300 million in share sales on the domestic stock exchanges. This was later cut to US$125 million - and now has ended up with the final amount of just US$65 million.
"We are proud of our achievement in having reached this milestone. We remain committed to contributing to the development of the capital markets of Bangladesh and look forward to a successful completion of the largest IPO in the country" said Oddvar Hesjedal, CEO of Grameenphone.
Telenor set up Grameenphone with Bangladesh's Grameen Telecom in 1996. Grameen Telecom is owned by microfinance pioneer Grameen Bank, which was founded by by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
Dr Yunus has however recently said he may take legal action to force Telenor to give up control of the venture. In a statement, he says that the two companies agreed that they would ensure that the company was locally managed within six years of being founded - but that Telenor has refused to relinquish management control. Under the agreement, which is now disputed by both parties, Telenor should have reduced its shareholding and handed over control of the company in 2002.
Telenor disputes the claim.
The country currently has six operators - and according to figures from the Mobile World, ended the first half of this year with just under 43.7 million mobile subscribers - which is still a population penetration level of 28.5%. Also worth noting is that while the country has six operators, only four of them are of any significant scale, Grameenphone (20.3m), Banglalink (9.5m) and Aktel (7.8m) and finally, Warid Telecom (3.3m). The two remaining long term incumbents, Citycell and Teletalk add up to 2.7 million customers between them.
Posted to the site on 11th December 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/35117.php