Uganda Electricity Distributor - Umeme IPO oversubscribed

The Umeme Initial Public Offering which closed on Nov. 7 has been oversubscribed by 35% by all categories of investors, officials said on Nov.8.

They officials from Stanbic bank Uganda-the transaction advisor, African Alliance Uganda-the lead sponsoring broker said more than the 622, 378, 000 shares on offer were applied for by investors in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and internationally.

They said there were over 4, 300 retail applications in total, which was a good indicator that the IPO was well received by the general public in the three-week period. They said the Ugandan retail segment applied for shares worth about Shs35billion and the East African investors applied for shares worth over Shs100billion.

The Umeme IPO opened on Oct. 15 following approvals by the Capital Markets Authority and Uganda securities exchange. The company floated 622, 378,000 shares which constitutes 38.6% of the company’s issued share capital upon listing.

The company made the offer with the aim to raise Shs171billion to pay off the share holder’s debt-Actis and to use some of the proceeds to expand its power distribution network.

Charles Chapman, the Umeme managing director said: “This is great news for Ugandans as well as for Umeme, because now the company has diversified its ownership to include Ugandan and East African shareholders.”

The shares will officially trade on the Uganda Securities Exchange on Nov. 30.

By Julius Businge
The Independent Newspaper
09-Nov-2012