By: Mohammad Farooq

LAHORE: The registration for book-building of At-Tahur’s IPO on the Pakistan Stock Exchange commenced on June 20^th and is set to end on 26^th of this month.

At-Tahur is issuing 36.7 million shares with 75 percent for book building and remaining 25 percent for retail investors at a floor price of Rs20 per share.

According to At-Tahur’s IPO prospectus “The issue is being made through the book building process at a floor price of Rs20.00 per share (including a premium of Rs10.00 per share) with an upper limit of 40 percent above the floor price.

The bidders shall be allowed to place bids for hundred percent (100 percent) of the issue size and the strike price shall be the price at which the hundred percent (100 percent) of the issue is subscribed.”

Also, bidding period dates commence from 25^th June and end on June 26^th at 5:00 pm. And the date of public subscription begins on 2^nd July at 9 am and concludes on the 3^rd of July at 5 pm.

The unsubscribed retail portion would be given to book building bidders and the funds raised from the IPO will be utilized to raise the plant, milk capacity and herd size.

The total funding requirement of At-Tahur amounts to Rs945 million, from which 77.6 per cent i.e. over Rs730 million proceeds will come from the IPO and the remainder will comprise of debt financing.

Arif Habib is acting as the consultant to offer for At-Tahur’s IPO at the PSX.

The company’s chief executive officer (CEO) is Rasikh Elahi, a law graduate from University of Buckingham, United Kingdom and the son of ex-Punjab Chief Minister and former deputy PM Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi and the brother of Moonis Elahi.

He has been the CEO since the company’s inception in 2007.

In a comment to Profit, Maha Jafer Butt, Director Research Capital Stake said “At-Tahur shall be the first dairy company operating in the niche segment of production and sale of pasteurized Milk to go public.

The product portfolio of other listed companies including Fauji Foods Limited and Engro Foods Limited is more focused on the UHT treated milk production and include other food items also.”

“With increased health awareness and doubts over the quality of milk loose milk, demand for At Tahur is expected to rise. A review of the company’s past financials demonstrates sales expanding with a CAGR 28% (as mentioned in the prospectus).

According to the prospectus, funds from the IPO shall be utilized in expanding into the untapped market of Karachi. Karachi being a large city with a literacy rate higher than many others may prove to bring in good demand. Other uses of the fund include increased herd size, expansion of the plant and farm capacity,” she said.

At-Tahur commenced operations more than a decade ago and is a key player in the pasteurized dairy segment of Pakistan. Its principal activity is to run a dairy farm for the production and processing of milk and dairy products.

Its major proficiency includes a retail network with a footprint of over 3,000 stores across the country which includes a vertically integrated distribution network, modern and automated dairy farm and a high-quality product range.

The company’s Prema milk brand holds the biggest market share in the pasteurized segment according to the Nielsen Retail Audit in March 2018.

In April, Dawn reported entities looking for a potential initial public offering (IPO) on the Pakistan Stock Exchange had declined in the last year or so.

At KSE-100 index’s zenith in late May last year, when it touched a record high of 52,876 points over 17 entities had applied for listing according to the daily quotation sheet of the exchange.

At that juncture, Dalda Foods, Inbox Technologies Limited and a variety of funds in Gold Fund; Energy Fund; Capital Protected Fund; Active Allocation Fund; Strategic Allocation Fund; Treasury Fund; Prosperity Planning and privately placed sukuk had sought to be listed on the PSX.

However, in 2018 as per the quotation sheet of the exchange, only 7 companies are seeking a listing on the stock exchange which includes, Inbox Technologies Limited, Unicol Limited, At-Tahur Limited, Liberty Power Tech Ltd, TPL Life Insurance Ltd, Hira Terry Mills Ltd and Dalda Foods.

This will be the third IPO of the year following Matco Foods and AGP Pharmaceutical’s listing on the bourse in January and February respectively.

Published in Profit by Pakistan Today, June 24th.