Beximco Pharma to raise Tk 3.15b from London Stock Exchange
BDNEWS, Dhaka
In a bid to re-engineer financial structure, Beximco Pharma-ceuticals Ltd yesterday said it will raise nearly Tk 3.15 billion from Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of London Stock Exchange (LSE). The amount will be raised through globally acclaimed global depository receipt (GDR). The 29th annual general meeting of Beximco Pharmaceuticals approved the proposal. Earlier, the board of directors of the company passed it. Beximco Pharmaceuticals is the first Bangladeshi company seeking permission to go to global market. The money will be spent on setting up new manufacturing lines, new processes and repaying foreign currency loans, the company said. The company expects to start raising capital by July this year after getting the permission of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). As per the rule of LSE, the company will publish a prospectus while a custodian bank will be employed for over the counter exchange. Currently, HSBC and StanChart are providing custodian services in Bangladesh. Besides, as per the financial re-engineering plan, the Beximco group with its 28 sister concerns, hopes to streamline all of the loans by December 2005. "This will enable foreign investors to acquire and trade in such securities abroad and give the issuing company access to major international capital markets," said Beximco Group Deputy Chairman Salman F Rahman while making the announcement. UK-based Libertas Capital Group Plc will act as its nominated adviser and broker while a top UK legal adviser and a chartered accountancy firm were hired as reporting accountant for due diligence in the UK. Meanwhile, the shareholders of Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Beximco Infusions at an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) yesterday gave the go-ahead to the already-announced merger between the two companies. An estimated 1.5 billion GDRs valued at $20-$25 billion are being traded on an average on the over-the-counter exchange and European markets every year. At present, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, a sister concern of Beximco Group, has eight divisions and over 22,000 employees. The Beximco Pharmaceuticals started its journey in 1980 with manufacturing and marketing of licensee products of Bayer AG, Germany and Upjohn Inc of USA.
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