Barkat Frisian: Pak-Dutch JV going public

KARACHI: Barkat Frisian Agro Limited, a joint venture of Frisian Egg Group of Netherlands and Pakistan’s Buksh Group, is all set to raise up to Rs1.2 billion financing from the PSX through the book building process on February 17 and 18.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) have approved the prospectus and IPO dates including book building dates and public subscription dates, said Chief Executive Officer of Arif Habib Limited Shahid Ali Habib, the lead manager and book runner for the IPO.

Barkat Frisian Agro plans to raise up to Rs1.23 billion through the sale of 67,735,000 of its ordinary shares in the IPO. The book building dates are February 17 and 18, and public subscriptions dates are February 24 and 25.

Barkat Frisian Agro, according to Shahid Ali Habib, is Pakistan’s largest manufacturer of pasteurised egg products, which plans to sell its shares each at a floor price of Rs13 through the 100 per cent book building method.

The fund raised from equity investors will be used for building a new state-of-the-art production facility at the special economic zone (SEZ) of Faisalabad, which is fast becoming an industrial hub in Punjab.

The company is operating a manufacturing plant in Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi, and the new plant will increase its pasteurised eggs’ production capacity by 71 per cent to 29,000 tonnes per year from the existing 17,000 tonnes.

The Pakistan-Dutch joint venture produces and markets a variety of products, including pasteurised eggs, egg whites, egg yolks and customised egg based products that are supplied to food manufacturers.

The new plant is being set up to meet inflating demand from the company’s domestic and overseas customers, said CEO of Barkat Frisian Muhammad Adil.

In the IPO, bidders will be allowed to place bids for 100 per cent of the issue size, and the strike price shall be the price at which total offered shares (100 per cent of the issue) ars fully subscribed.

Successful bidders, however, will be provisionally allotted only 75 per cent of the issue size, ie, 50,801,250 shares, and the company will offer the remaining 25 per cent or 16,933,750 shares to retail investors through the general public subscription.