‘Identified investors’ secure over 20% shares of WindForce’s IPO

The board of directors of WindForce Limited has decided to allot a minimum of 42,028,125 ordinary voting shares, amounting to 20.7 percent of its Rs.3.2 billion IPO issuance, to ‘identified investors’.

“A total of 42,028,125 number of shares were allotted to identified investors. In addition, a further 6.524186 percent were allotted to identified investors, out of the non-allotted component of their application,” the company announced. 

WindForce Limited’s Rs.3.2 billion IPO, the largest IPO announced at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) since 2011, drew 1,654 applications, reaching a total value of Rs.25.7 billion. The company’s IPO for 202,615,341 shares, at an issue price of Rs.16 per share, was oversubscribed by eight times on the initial day.

As per the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) Listing Rule 2.1.1. (g) (i), in the event the size of the issue is Rs.3 billion or more, the applicant entity is required to determine the basis of allotting the shares in a fair and equitable manner, in consultation with the CSE.

Accordingly, WindForce announced in its prospectus dated March 1 this year, that retail individual investors, unit trust investors, group employees and directors and non-retail investors would be allotted 30 percent, 10 percent, 7.5 percent and 52.50 percent shares offered in the IPO, upon full subscription of the issuance.

However, the company did not mention the allotment of shares to ‘identified investors’ in the ‘1.8 Basis of Allotment’ section of its prospectus. 

As per the recent filing to the CSE, the company noted that all investors who applied in the employee category and unit trust investors would be allotted in full, while all other investors, who applied up to 46,875 shares, including the retail investors, would be allotted in full.

For the investors who applied beyond 46,875 shares were allotted 46,875 shares and in addition were allotted 6.524186 percent of applied shares above the 46,875-shares threshold. 

The board directors of WindForce maintained that they have carried out the allotments in accordance with the prospectus.

The allotment came into effective from yesterday (April 5) and the WindForce share is scheduled to commence trading on the Main Board of the CSE during the latter part of April 2021.