Iraqi mobile operator Asiacell is set to launch its long-delayed IPO on 3 January 2013.
The company will aim to sell 25% of its stock in the IPO, according to an Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) statement. Public trading is scheduled to begin on 3 February….
Iraqi mobile operator Asiacell is set to launch its long-delayed IPO on 3 January 2013.
The company will aim to sell 25% of its stock in the IPO, according to an Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) statement. Public trading is scheduled to begin on 3 February. Asiacell has until 25 December to inform the regulator of the number and price of shares to be floated.
Asiacell, a subsidiary of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), confirmed in July that it had received approval from the Securities Commission for the listing.
Asiacell was not immediately available for comment and a spokesperson for Qtel said the company has no comment to make at this time.
Asiacell and peers Zain Iraq and France Telecom-affiliated Korek are required under the terms of their operating licences to float 25% of their stock capital. All three missed the initial August 2011 deadline, claiming the local bourse wasn’t ready to handle their listings, and have since been fined by the regulator.
Zain Iraq deputy CEO Hisham Akbar told reporters last month that the company plans to hold its IPO in early 2013 at the latest. An analyst familiar with the local market told TelecomFinance the public float is likely to go ahead, although he said it is difficult to speculate on whether it will take place in the first or second quarter. There is concern, he noted, that the Iraqi market may not be able to support the three listings in the next year.
