Lukewarm interest in ­Letshego listing

Jo-Maré Duddy - Letshego Holdings Namibia (LHN), which lists on the Local Index of the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) this morning, raised N$182.3 million through its initial public offering (IPO).

This is significantly less than the N$470 million they hoped for when the IPO opened with a share price offer of N$4.70 a piece on 25 August. The IPO’s closing date originally was 22 September. Last week, however, Letshego extended the deadline to 26 September and dropped the share price offer to N$3.80 per share.

The IPO offered 100 million ordinary shares. A total of 47 968 043 were applied for and issued. In total 3 619 applications were received.

LHN targeted citizens and previously disadvantaged Namibians in its IPO. However, only 3 204 applications in this category were received and shares worth N$18.1 million were issued, according to an LHN statement published on the website of IJG Securities yesterday.

Four applications by Namibian institutions for N$128.8 million worth of shares were received and allocated. A total of 409 applications from the retail and corporate sector were received and fully allocated. The value of these shares is N$21.7 million. Two applications from foreign institutions were also received. The full allocation totals N$13.7 million.

LHN’s market capitalisation when listing this morning will be N$1.9 billion, the group said in a statement yesterday.

Commenting on the IPO, Letshego Namibia chief executive officer Ester Kali said: “By listing, Letshego Namibia has achieved its objective to increase our local shareholding and demonstrated its commitment toward meeting the government’s 2030 mandate for increased local shareholdings.”