KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday held a gong ceremony to mark the listing of Agha Steel Industries Limited (ASIL) at the exchange.
The listing took place after Agha Steel’s successful IPO, which was the largest in the country’s steel sector.
Speaking on the occasion, PSX CEO Farrukh Khan said, “I would like to congratulate Agha Steel on their highly successful IPO and welcome them to the exchange. The successful IPO and listing of Agha Steel again demonstrates the depth and liquidity in our capital market for good companies.”
He noted that this was the third listing of a company on PSX in the fiscal year 2021. “We are expecting more listings on the boards of the exchange in the near future. We are confident that with the simplification of rules for listing on the GEM board of PSX recently, medium sized growth enterprises will come forward for listing as well.”
Talking about the listing of his company on the exchange, Agha Steel CEO Hussain Agha said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to get listed at PSX, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the partners involved for the confidence they have shown in Agha Steel Industries.”
Speaking about the purpose of the IPO, Agha stated, “This IPO will help us materialize our expansion plans and bring to Pakistan Asia’s first ‘endless steel plant with DRB technology’. We will do our best to continue on the path of prosperity and ensure sustainable growth for our shareholders.”
In his address, Arif Habib Limited CEO Shahid Ali Habib said, “I am delighted that Agha Steel Industries Limited, one of Pakistan’s largest steel companies, is getting listed at PSX. It is a proud moment for us at AHL to have facilitated this journey for the company.”
Habib further hinted towards more IPOs in the future, “The market and the investors have shown strong resilience post easing of Covid-19 lockdown and AHL remains poised to bring several other companies for listing in the next few months.”
The Agha Steel IPO proved to be the biggest IPO for a steel company in Pakistan and saw broad-based investor participation with 298 investors participating in the book building and over 5,200 participants in the general public subscription.
In value terms, the book building was oversubscribed by 1.6 times and the general public subscription was oversubscribed by 1.3 times.
The total amount raised through the IPO was Rs3.84 billion as against the target of Rs3.60 billion, making it the largest steel sector IPO and second largest private sector IPO of Pakistan.
