Orient Finance to re-enter bourse with Rs.1bn IPO

Janashakthi group subsidiary Orient Finance will be relisting on the Colombo Stock Exchange by way of a Rs.1.07 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this month.

The IPO will offer 71.5 million shares at a price of Rs.15 per share.  Kenanga Investment Corporation Limited is the manager to the issue and KHL Corporate Services Limited is the registrar to the issue, which will open on January 25. Janashakthi purchased 86.79 percent of the shares in Bartleet Finance from the Bartleet group in January 2015 and Janashakthi had also bought 12.99 percent of the shares from minority shareholders prior to the transaction.

Orient Finance was delisted last year, after it was merged with Bartleet Finance under the bank and non-banking finance company amalgamation policy of the past regime.

The surviving entity following the amalgamation was Bartleet Finance PLC, and Janashakthi changed the name to Orient Finance PLC, prior to delisting it late last year.

Janashakthi also split the shares into 10 shares for every one existing share, increasing the number of total shares in the company to 76.51 million, representing Rs.306.19 million in stated capital, reflected in the financial records for September 2015.
At the time of delisting, Janashakthi held 99.95 percent of the shares in Orient Finance.