Starwin shares over-subscribed - Brokers

Accra, Dec. 16, GNA - Starwin Products Limited, a pharmaceutical company, has received an overwhelming public endorsement with the company recording an over subscription of about 50 per cent in its recent public share offer.

Starwin was provisionally listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange last June to raise 15 billion cedis to implement a major expansion programme after the successful launch of its initial public offer from October 29 to November 26.

A statement on Thursday from Worldwide Securities, the sponsoring brokers, said the over-subscription necessitated the company's directors/shareholders to issue additional 6.7 million shares to meet public demand, although this in the end proved inadequate.

To further reduce the impact of the over-subscription on individual retail investors, Worldwide Securities Limited and directors agreed to cut down by 10 per cent the subscriptions of 13 key institutional investors to absorb the over-subscription and cater for all individual retail order for Starwin shares.

This, the statement explained, was to sustain public confidence in the market and interest in future IPOs.

The statement said the Registrars of Starwin and Merchant Bank Limited are in the process of dispatching certificates to subscribers, to ensure trading in the stock to be opened by December 22. Total number of shares for the company stands at 36.7 million shares and the amount raised was 17.7 billion cedis. The company has 6,486 shareholders.