BSP explains shares offer

THE Bank of South Pacific in a market release says its board is not of the view that there will be a significant public offer of shares regarding the potential listing on Australian Securities Exchange.
Chairman Sir Kostas Constantinou said: “The board of BSP is continuing its consideration of initiatives to generate greater liquidity in BSP shares.
“BSP has not ruled out undertaking a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (potential listing). But is not currently of the view that there will be a significant public offer of shares in conjunction with the potential listing.”
An initial public offering (IPO) is the first time that the stock of a private company is offered to the public. It is often issued by smaller, younger companies seeking capital to expand.
They can also be done by large privately-owned companies looking to become publicly traded.
Meanwhile, The Australian reported that a board meeting was scheduled for this week about its plans for the initial public offering on the ASX.
It is understood the float of the $1.5 billion (K3.57 billion) bank had remained subject to its shareholders signing escrow agreements.
And given the number, the process is never going to be easy.
Among BSP’s shareholders are PNG’s Kumul Consolidated which is believed to be willing to sign up for an agreement to commit to owning shares in the bank for five years in an effort to provide long-term stability to the group.
The plan to list in Australia as well as Papua New Guinea had drawn some scepticism, as Morgan Stanley and UBS rallied investor support to raise between $200 million (K476 million) and $300 million (K714 million) in the initial public offering.
Morgan Stanley assessed the bank’s value at between $1.554 billion (K3.69 billion) and $2.176 billion (K5.179 billion), which equated to between 5.3 times and 7.4 times its forecast earnings.