Qatar-backed insurer closes IPO book-building with 21x oversubscription

Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited's initial public offering (IPO) has concluded its book-building phase with an oversubscription of 21 times, the company said in a statement.

The strike price for the offer was set at PKR 14 per share, above the floor price of PKR 10. Total demand for the issue reached approximately PKR 4.74 billion.

According to the statement, successful bidders will be provisionally allotted 22,500,000 shares. The remaining 7,500,000 shares will be offered to retail investors during the public subscription on January 28 and 29.

Shahid Ali Habib, the CEO of Arif Habib Ltd, which was the lead manager for the IPO, said the strong subscription reflects “investor interest” in the Takaful sector and confidence in Pak-Qatar General Takaful’s position in the market.

The proceeds from the IPO will be used for investments in software and intangible assets, hardware and infrastructure, marketing and brand development, human resource enhancement, and the expansion and transformation of branch networks to improve operational efficiency and customer experience, the company said.

Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited, which commenced its operations in 2007, offers a range of general Takaful (non-life insurance) products to corporate as well as individual clients.

In December, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL), a sister company of PQGT, conducted its IPO.

The book-building phase of PQFTL’s offer was oversubscribed around 3.2 times, with the final strike price closing at around PKR 18.02 per share against a floor price of PKR 14, and total demand significantly above the issue size.

The public portion of PQFTL’s IPO held on December 17-18 saw strong participation, with applications for approximately 47.84 million shares against an issue size of 12.5 million shares, resulting in an oversubscription of about 3.8 times and total subscription value of roughly PKR 862 million.

Subsequently, PQFTL became the first and only dedicated family takaful operator to list on the PSX, raising around PKR 901 million through the offering at a premium to the floor price.