The Ugandan drug make Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Limited has (CQCIL) has raised Shs155 billion (US$41 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) that was oversubscribed, according to a brokerage firm- Renaissance Capital that helped advise on the transaction.
CQCIL, majorly owned by India’s third-largest drug maker, Cipla, sold 657 million shares equivalent to 18 percent of the firm’s total equity. Each share in the IPO was priced at Shs256.5 and closed the first day of trading up 2.1 percent at Sh262.
According to John Porter, chief business officer at brokerage Renaissance Capital, interest came from both local and international investors.
“The offering has been oversubscribed with the major part of the demand coming from blue-chip Sub-Saharan Africa investors,” he said while speaking during a function to launch the firm’s debut on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).
CQCIL, established in 2005, has a factory in Kampala and makes a range of drugs including antiretrovirals, anti-malaria and drugs to treat Hepatitis B and C. Most of the drugs are sold in Sub-Saharan Africa.