Robi to alter IPO fund utilisation plan

Robi Axiata, the country's second largest telecom operator, has decided to amend its plan regarding the utilisation of the funds it collected through an initial public offering (IPO) a year ago.

Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi, said the company needs more time to implement its network expansion project using the IPO funds because the pandemic disrupted its vendor's supply chain and thus delayed the project.

Also, the company successfully negotiated with vendors to reduce the cost of the remaining part of the project. Now it needs to devise an alternative plan to make use of the money saved, he added.

Robi will arrange an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in order to secure shareholder approval for the amended utilisation plan and project time extension. The EGM will be held on 24 January 2022.

The record date of the EGM will be 30 December, which means those who hold Robi shares on that day will be entitled to attend the EGM in person or online.

Earlier in November 2020, Robi collected Tk523.7 crore through IPO and of the amount, it had decided to invest Tk515 crore for its network expansion.

According to the external auditor's October report on IPO fund utilisation updates, Robi has already utilised 85.12% of its allotted funds for network expansion.

Shahed Alam said, "We were supposed to finish the expansion project by the end of June this year, but seeing the inevitable delay, we applied to the securities regulator for a time extension, which also needs shareholder approval."

The company will take 3 to 4 months to fully implement the network expansion project as soon as it secures the approvals.

The auditor also reported that the company saved 5.58% of the Tk8 crore that was allocated as its IPO expenses fund.