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PSX holds gong ceremony to mark listing of Citi Pharma Limited

PSX holds gong ceremony to mark listing of Citi Pharma Limited

PSX holds gong ceremony to mark listing of Citi Pharma Limited

PSX holds gong ceremony to mark listing of Citi Pharma Limited

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KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another positive development, as the gong ceremony for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Citi Pharma Limited (CPL) was held on Monday, making it the first company to be listed at the bourse in 2022, a statement issued by the stock exchange said.

The Citi Pharma was listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on July 9, 2021. The book-building phase of the IPO was a tremendous success with the strike price being discovered at Rs32/share, whereas the floor price was Rs28/share.

A large number of institutional and individual investors, totalling 516 investors, took part in the book-building, of which 340 investors became successful participants.

The issue was oversubscribed by 2.0x with the total participation of Rs4.087 billion being received against an issue size of Rs2.035 billion at the floor price, it said.

The general public also showed tremendous interest, as their share oversubscribed 1.6 times. Applications for a total of 28,751,041 ordinary shares against the issue size of 18,173,000 ordinary shares were received.

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A significant number of investors also showed interest in investing in the issue through the e-IPO system of the Pakistan Stock Exchange. A total of 232 applications for 416,000 shares were filed through the e-IPO system, the statement said.

The issue of Citi Pharma Limited consisted of 72,692,000 ordinary shares, or 35 per cent of the total post-IPO paid-up capital. The entire issue was offered through the book-building method at the floor price of Rs28/share with a maximum price band of up to 40 per cent.

Initially, 75 per cent of the issue size, i.e., 54,519,000 ordinary shares were allotted to the successful bidders and 25 per cent of the issue size, i.e., 18,173,000 ordinary shares were offered to the retail investors at the strike price.

The book-building dates of the issue were June 15 and 16, 2021, whereas the public subscription dates for the retail portion of the issue were June 23 and 24, 2021, it said.

The principal purpose of the IPO was to raise capital for expansion in the active pharmaceuticals ingredient (API) segment, in which Citi Pharma intends to expand their existing capacity of 3,600 tonnes/annum of Paracetamol to 6,000 tonnes/annum, and to add new APIs to its existing product line, i.e., Ascorbic Acid, Chloroquine Phosphate, and Hydroxyl Chloroquine Sulfate.

The company also intends to build three manufacturing facilities having the total capacity of 200,000 vials/day; dry powder/suspension, 60,000 bottles/day, capsules, 4,200,000/day; and tablets, 4,500,000/day. These include dedicated lines for Penicillin, Cephalosporin and Psychotropic and Narcotic Drugs.

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The Citi Pharma also intends to build a 50-bed healthcare facility in Lahore having out-patient department (OPD), general operations and diagnostic services.

Speaking about the successful subscription of the issue, Nadir Rahman, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, said: “[The] PSX is very proud of the fact that the first company of the current fiscal year FY22 had already been listed in the first half of July 2021.”

“As a prominent API manufacturer in Pakistan, Citi Pharma, having a net turnover of Rs3.5 billion in FY20, is one of the important players in the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan, given its current focus on APIs, a substitute for imports. Apart from its goals to expand and increase its manufacturing facilities, the Citi Pharma has noble goals, as well as it intends to set up a 50-bed hospital in Lahore, to further reduce the shortage in healthcare facilities in Pakistan.”

He also said: “I am very pleased to see the immense interest by [the] investors in yet another IPO. This proves the viability and feasibility of raising capital by business and industry in the country through the capital market.”

“The healthy pipeline of prospective issuers who are seeking to raise capital on the exchange will enable the exchange to play its integral role as an effective and efficient source of capital formation,” he added.

Rizwan Ahmad Sheikh, chief executive officer of Citi Pharma Limited, said: “We are thankful to [the] Almighty Allah that with this listing, he has elevated us to the next level among the Pakistani companies. However, this elevation comes with [an] increased responsibility and InshaAllah we will put in our best efforts to not only welcome all new shareholders to the Citi family but also give them good results.”

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“I would like to take this opportunity to request all capital market stakeholders, as well as shareholders to pray for our success and I would like to highlight here that we have realigned our aim, which is to become the No 1 company in Pakistan, not just in [the] pharmaceutical sector but across-the-board by 2030.”

“This will take untiring efforts from our side but we are ready and geared up for the challenge and look forward to aligning with the PSX family and giving the investors a good return on their investment, as well as enhancing our aim of serving mankind, Pakistani public and Pakistan, Insha Allah,” Sheikh added.

Mohammed Sohail, chief executive officer of the Topline Securities Limited, who were the consultants and book runners to the issue, said: “Citi Pharma is a unique company and caters to the growing API needs of entire Pakistan – along with its other products.”

“The listing will help the company sponsors realise their expansion plans and also give investors a new flavor of local entrepreneurial skill-set and expertise, which [the] Citi sponsors possess. This will also add to the float of the pharma sector at the PSX – something investors have been desiring for a long time,” he added.

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