June 26: The Securities Board of Nepal has said that the matter of the postponed initial public offering (IPO) of Ghorahi Cement Industry Limited will be resolved soon. The board decided to stop the issuance of IPO of the company on June 19, saying that it would investigate the fake applications for the company's IPO.

As the company’s IPOs have been oversubscribed, the board increased its monitoring by extending the period. CDS and Clearing Limited (CDSC) announced that a dozen investors had applied to buy millions of shares despite having no funds in their accounts. Due to the suspicious activity, the board suspended the process.

Tej Prasad Devkota, information officer of the board, said that the board is trying to solve this issue as soon as possible.

He said that since the investigation committee is working, the board will decide after they receive the report. According to information officer Devkota, the board is working with special vigilance as the issue of securities is being issued to the public in the primary market and the matter of Ghorahi has an impact on others as well. He said that it will not take much time to resolve this. 

"The board believes that transactions should be conducted fairly and transparently in the securities market," he said.

Ghorahi had opened the IPO to allocate 6.91 million shares to the general public from June 15  for Rs 435 per share with a premium charge. CDSC said that applications without funds in the account have been cancelled.

According to CDSC, this is the first time in the history of Nepal's securities market that so many applications have been rejected during public offering.

The IPO has received three times more applicants than the demand placed by the company. A total of 562,043 applicants want to buy shares worth Rs 22.61 million. The amount has been froozen in the bank. Investors have requested not to withhold their money for a long time.

Company's belief that the IPO issuance process will go ahead

Meanwhile, the company has claimed that the misleading and wrong information flow harms the professional reputation and reputation of the industry, which is one of the largest in the country.

One of the directors of the company, seeking anonymity, responded that the regulatory body stopped the process based on wrong information, which would affect the reputation of the company. He also said that the company will help the board in the investigation process in a completely transparent manner.

He said that the company is ready to take responsibility for all the documents, including the prospectus, financial statement and credit rating report submitted for the IPO issuance process. 

Regarding the dispute about the rating company, he said, "The credit rating process is done by a specific method, and the process is done through the analysis and evaluation of international experts, so there is no weakness."

He is hopeful that the stopped process will be resumed immediately following the procedure according to the law regarding the fake application. The board has allowed Ghorahi Cement to sell 7.94 million shares in IPO at a premium rate. The board has allowed the IPO sale for the residents of industry-affected areas at a face value of Rs 400 by adding Rs 300 to the initial price of Rs 100 per share. Likewise, the company has offered the share at a face value of Rs 430 to the general public. 

The company has distributed 606,350 shares to Nepalis working abroad, 328,961 shares to collective investment funds, 19,530 shares to the company employees and 77,290 shares to residents affected by the industry.