SLT opts for private placement to comply with public free float rules

The director board of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) has resolved to go for a private placement of shares to meet the minimum public free float requirement as per the Colombo Stock Exchange Listing Rules.

SLT said it would issue 89.7 million ordinary voting shares, representing 4.74 percent of the issued shares of the company, to local and foreign institutional investors.

The price at which the shares will be issued will be determined after a share valuation, feedback from potential investors and resolutions from the SLT board directors.

The current stated capital of SLT is Rs.18 billion, represented by 1.8 billion ordinary shares. As at June 30, 2018, SLT’S public holding stood at 5.52 percent in the hands of 12,299 shareholders.

SLT said the funds raised through the private placement of shares would be utilized to restructure the group’s debt portfolio by refinancing its shortterm borrowings.

As at June 30, 2018, the SLT group had short-term borrowings of Rs.19.35 billion, down from Rs.26.9 billion six months ago.

During the first half of FY18, SLT raised a staggering Rs.18.9 billion in fresh borrowings but settled Rs.10.2 billion in existing loans. The government, through the National Treasury, has a 49.50 percent stake in SLT, while Global Telecommunications Holdings NV, a unit of Malaysia’s Maxis group backed by billionaire Ananda Krishnan, has a 44.98 percent stake. The Employees’ Provident Fund has a 1.40 percent stake, being the third largest shareholder.