LTL Holdings withdraws record Rs. 20bn IPO application

• All subscription monies to be returned to investors by 30 July
• Says decision taken after considering the prolonged time taken in opening subscription list of the IPO due to various reasons

LTL Holdings Ltd has withdrawn its Rs.20 billion initial public offering (IPO), the largest ever attempted on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), due to delays in the subscription process, the company disclosed this week.

In a filing to the CSE, LTL said its board resolved at a meeting held on 26 June, to withdraw the IPO application and return all subscription monies to investors by 30 July.

“The said decision has been taken after considering the prolonged time taken in opening the subscription list of the IPO due to various reasons,” the company stated.

LTL had initially planned to issue up to 1.38 billion new ordinary voting shares at Rs.14.50 per share to raise Rs.20 billion, including a greenshoe option. At the time of launch, the company had secured strategic investor commitments covering over 70 percent of the issue.

However, the offering was first postponed in September 2024, when the CSE halted its opening, due to new legal disclosures that had not been included in the original prospectus. The CSE had directed LTL to revise its documentation to reflect its involvement in two Fundamental Rights (FR) cases filed in the Supreme Court, where the company was named a respondent.

Following further legal complications and instructions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2024 to maintain the status quo, the IPO remained indefinitely on hold. The case was taken up for support on 11 October 2024, but no final ruling has been disclosed to date.

As per this week’s filing, application monies currently held by the registrar will be returned through multiple channels based on how investors had applied, that is via cheque, bank draft, RTGS, the CSE Mobile App, or the CDS web portal.

The applications will be deemed withdrawn and the application monies will be returned to the bank accounts specified by the applicants, LTL said, adding that all returns will be accompanied by acknowledgement notices.

Applicants who had opted to retain their funds are entitled to interest payments. LTL has already paid interest up to 10 December, 2024, and will continue paying accrued interest at 10.49 percent p.a. up to 13 February 2025. 

From 14 February until the final return on 30 July, interest will be paid at 8.33 percent p.a., aligned to the 91-day Treasury bill rate published by the Central Bank on 15 January 2025.

“The Board of Directors and the Management of LTL Holdings Limited take this opportunity to thank all applicants for their trust and confidence in the company by applying for its shares via the IPO,” the company said.