Searle planning IPO of its wholly-owned subsidiary

Riding the wave of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), pharmaceutical giant Searle is planning to get its wholly-owned subsidiary listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

The board of directors in a meeting resolved that the shares of Searle Pakistan Limited (formerly Searle Pakistan (Private) Limited), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, may be listed on PSX, said Searle Company Limited in a notice sent to the PSX on Wednesday.

The company said that it intends to issue a maximum of 349,010,000 ordinary shares, as and by way of an IPO at the strike price to be determined by Searle Pakistan Limited in accordance with the Public Offering Regulations, 2017.

Set up as a private limited company in 1965, Searle Company Limited was converted into a public limited company in 1993. The company manufactures pharmaceutical and other consumer products; International Brands Limited is its holding company, owning over 56% shares of the company.

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As per the company’s latest financials, during 1QFY21, Searle's revenue stood at Rs4 billion. Gross profit stood at just above Rs2 billion, whereas the company announced an EPS of Rs2.79.

Pakistan has witnessed a rising trend of listings on the PSX with 8 IPOs offered in FY2020-21 alone, in comparison to the previous fiscal year when no IPO was offered.

Days ago, Octopus Digital IPO was oversubscribed 27 times at the end of the two-day process. The company received offers of over 745.6 million shares against its offer of 27.35 million at the initial price of Rs29 per share.

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