Ex-Pack Corrugated Cartons Limited’s LKR 700 million IPO, witnessed 6,000+ applicants seeking to subscribe, resulting in an 11X oversubscription. This is the highest rate of oversubscription witnessed by any recent IPO, making it the highest subscribed IPO for 2021. The IPO, which opened on the 22nd of October 2021, was oversubscribed in a matter of minutes and, thus, closed at 4.30pm the same day. There was active interest from a range of investors, both individuals and institutions, with Ex-Pack receiving more than 6000 applications worth over LKR 8 billion. Heavy retail activity was also noted.
Discussing the overwhelmingly positive conclusion of the IPO, Mr. Zulficar Ghouse, Managing Director at Ex-Pack said, “We are very pleased to say that the interest our IPO received surpassed expectations at every level. I take this opportunity to thank all those who placed their confidence in us and subscribed to our IPO. We look forward to having you onboard our journey and remain resolutely committed to delivering exceptional value to our investors, customers, people, communities and other stakeholders. The resounding success of our IPO is a testament to the underlying value and fundamentals of the company. It also demonstrates that investors have faith in our business, supported by our fundamentals.”
Commenting on the exceptional outcome of the IPO, Rizny Faisal, Senior Vice President and Head of ECM and M&A at CAL said, “We couldn’t be more pleased at the outcome of this issue and take this opportunity to congratulate Ex-Pack on presenting such a good case for investors. Given the unprecedented levels of interest in this issue, we have successfully guided the Company at every step of the way.”
Sujendra Mather, Head of Investment Banking at Asia Securities, further added, “We are proud to be Joint Managers to the Issue and would like to congratulate Ex-Pack for delivering one of the most sought-after IPOs of the year. The issue has seen exceptional demand from a diverse spectrum of investors and given the 11x oversubscription, we are quite confident of a positive secondary market performance of the share post commencement of trading.”
Ex-Pack Corrugated Cartons Limited offered 83,333,333 ordinary voting shares (a 25% stake) at a price of LKR 8.40 per share through its IPO, resulting in a projected market capitalization of LKR 2.8 billion. This translates into an estimated forward PER of 7.7x for FY22 and implied TTM PER (as at August 2021) of 8.9x.
Funds raised by the IPO will go towards a 3-billion-rupee ultramodern production facility, which is expected to raise monthly volumes from 2,650 metric tons, currently, to 4,000 metric tons by 2025. Ex-Pack serves top corporate customers and brands, worldwide, across a range of industries including FMCG, consumer durables, apparel, tea and fisheries. The Company’s international presence extends to 8 key markets including the Maldives, Qatar, India, the USA, Australia, Madagascar, the Seychelles and Reunion Island.