Ridi hydropower IPO closing today; draws around 2 arba in 3 days

Ridi Hydropower Development Company Limited’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 11.70 lakh units has drawn Rs 2 arba in the first three days of its opening.

The IPO is closing day, and long queues of applicants could be seen in all the eight collection centers since the morning.

“The IPO has drawn around Rs 2 arba in three days, though we have not been able to compile all the applications due to the public holiday yesterday.  It suggests that the IPO has been oversubscribed by more than 18 times in the first three days,” said Bhisma Raj Chalise, CEO of Civil Capital, the issue manager.

The issue manager estimated the IPO may be oversubscribed by some 50 times.

Ridi hydropower had issued the IPO at the face value of Rs 100 per unit on February 16.

The IPO being managed by Civil Capital Market Limited and co-managed by Elite Capital Limited will close on February 20 latest.

Applicants must apply for a minimum of 50 units and could apply for the maximum of 10,000 units.

Of the total units of the primary shares, 58,500 units have been kept aside for Nabil Balanaced Fund-1, SIG1 and Nagarik Ekanaga Yogana, and additional 23,400 units have been reserved for the hydropower's staff.

It may also be noted that Ridi has already issued the IPO for 3 lakh unit equity shares to the local residents affected or in the vicinity of the 2.4 MW Ridi Khola Small Hydropower Project in October last year.

Ridi Khola Small Hydropower Project came into operation in Kartik 2066, has already sold electricity worth Rs 14.83 crore to the Nepal Electricity Authority.

The developer of the project, Ridi Hydropower Development Company was registered as a private company back in Ashwin 2057 and converted to a public undertaking in Shrawan 2063.

The company has the authorized capital of Rs 50 crore, issued capital of Rs 30 crore and the paid-up capital of Rs 18.3 crore after the issuance of the IPO to the locals.
After the issuance of the IPO to the general public, Ridi Hydropower’s paid-up will surge to Rs 30 crore.

ICRA Nepal has given Grade 3 credit rating to the IPO of the company, which had posted a net profit of Rs 2.12 crore in the last fiscal year 2069/70.

Ridi Hydropower Development Company, which is one of the companies in the group of Arun Valley and Rairang Hydropower Development Company have four projects under its belt.

Among them, three are already operational while one is under construction.-SSN