Taprobane Holdings goes public in March
*Initial Market Cap of Rs. 4.2 billion from 700 million shares
*Growth to be expected through major acquisitions
By Ravi Ladduwahetty
Taprobane Holdings Ltd (THL), a diversified corporate in financial services established in September 2006 as the brainchild of stock market veteran Ajit Devasurendra, will go public in March.
The listing will be in March where 700 million shares will be placed on the Diri Savi Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange where the initial price offered will be Rs. 6 which will see a market capitalisation of Rs. 4.2 billion initially, Taprobane Holdings CEO Dinal Wijemanne told The Island Financial Review yesterday.
"We are in the process of finalising the application to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the process associated with it. Though the introductory price will be Rs. 6 initially, we expect the share to be traded higher," he said.
He also said that the majority shareholders- Ajit Devasurendra and Ishara Nanayakkara were expected to be committed to the group and intended to be with the group in the long term.
THL in its relentless search for attractive investment opportunities plans to expand its wealth management and finance activities as well establishing a money market mutual fund and Insurance brokering services. The group also intends to diversify in the many other sectors in future. The group is also preparing itself to secure a listing on the Diri Savi Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange by way of an Introduction in March, Wijemanne said.
THL’s growth process, Wijemmanne said, will be through acquisitions and there will be some major acquisitions this year. However, when asked how the capital was to be raised for them and whether the company was going public following the listing, he denied it, ruling out the possibility of an Initial Public Offer right now.
THL which was incorporated in keeping with a vision of establishing a group of companies to create a large fund base by mobilizing funds by providing a range of financial products, and in turn investing such funds in the Debt Securities Market, Equity Market and Real Estate Market. The main services offered by Taprobane Holdings include Money broking, Stock Broking, Fund Management, Corporate Finance and Debt securitisation
The Taprobane group comprise of the following companies; Taprobane Investments (Pvt) Ltd, Taprobane Securities (Pvt) Limited and Browns Investments PLC (Associate Company)
THL currently owns 26% of BIL Presently the subsidiaries of Browns Investments PLC are into leisure, plantations, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and mini hydro power sectors by in turn carrying a significant shareholding of companies such as LOLC Leisure (Club Palm Garden Hotel, Riverina Hotel, Eden Hotel, Tropical Villas), Excel Global Holdings, Free Lanka Capital Holdings, Royal Fernwood Porcelain, Sierra Holdings, Sierra Construction, Agstar Fertilizers & Hydro Power Free Lanka respectively.
THL diversified into property management having acquired the full stake of Lexinton Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Lexinton Financial Services (Pvt) Ltd a subsidiary of Lexinton Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and eventually a sub subsidiary of THL offers margin trading facilities to investors having successfully obtained licence from the Securities Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) in late 2010.
Ajith Devasurendra accounts for more than 25 years’ experience both in Sri Lanka and Overseas. He pioneered the Money Broking and Government Securities markets in Sri Lanka and was able to bring new dimensions to the Sri Lankan Money market industry thereby known as the ‘Father of Bonds’ in Sri Lanka.
He was the first president of Sri Lanka Money Brokers Association and was also the first President of the Sri Lanka Primary Dealers Association. He was the former CEO of the First Capital group and at present he serves in the capacity of Director of Browns Group and many other Companies as well as many committees that focus on the development of the Financial Market in Sri Lanka, including the National Council for Economic Development (NCED).
The Taprobane Group chaired by Ms Rohini Nanayakkara, who was the former CEO of Bank of Ceylon and former Chairperson/Director of National Development Bank, DFCC Bank, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and the First Capital Group of Companies. She is presently the Chairperson of LOLC, NDB Venture Investments (Pvt) Ltd, Browns Investments PLC, Ayojana Fund Management (Pvt) Ltd and the Taprobane Investment Group of Companies. She is also a Director of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, Mireka Homes (Pvt) Ltd. and Cinnamon Lake Side PLC.
The Company’s Board of Directors comprise: Ms Rohini Nanayakkara ( Chairperson), Ajith Devasurendra (Deputy Chairman), Dinal Wijemanne (Director/CEO) and Priyantha Fernando, former Deputy Govenor of Central Bank, AshanDassanayake and Roshan Anthony.