Access Engineering IPO oversubscribed

Access Engineering Limited said that its Rs. 500 million IPO has been oversubscribed within a few hours of opening. As the IPO was oversubscribed, the subscription list closed on March 6, the official day of opening of the IPO, according to the regulations laid down by the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The company issued 20 million ordinary voting shares to the public at Rs. 25 each, amounting to a 2 percent stake of the company, post IPO.

The theme of the offer 'A New Hope', created much hype, excitement and enthusiasm by the public, high net worth individuals and foreign investors as evident from the overwhelming response and number of applications received for the issue.

The Chairman of Access Engineering Limited Sumal Perera said, "We were fully confident that the issue would be oversubscribed on the opening day due to the overwhelming response we had from investors.

I sincerely thank all those who placed their confidence in us and have invested. We will make every endeavour to maintain it by taking the company to greater heights and ensure attractive returns to the shareholders, perhaps exceeding their expectations."

Chief Executive Officer, NDB Investment Banking Cluster, Vajira Kulatilaka, said "We are happy to have witnessed the successful oversubscription of the first IPO for the year.

This bears evidence for the fact that there is sufficient investor appetite for attractive sectors and stocks in our capital market such as Access Engineering in spite of the present liquidity constraints.

It also augurs well for future IPOs and would be an encouraging sign for companies that intend to raise capital by listing on the CSE".

The funds raised will now be used to partly finance the working capital requirements of a housing project to the value of Rs. 3 billion undertaken by the company on behalf of UDA. Access Engineering is the first construction company pioneered by Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and would be within the top 20 corporates listed in terms of market capitalisation at the share issue price of Rs. 25 per share.

Setup in 2001, Access Engineering Limited has established itself as a leading construction company offering innovative value engineering solutions comprising design, procurement, construction and commissioning of numerous multi disciplinary engineering projects for the Government and the private sector of Sri Lanka.