Pakistan’s pharmaceutical giant, Searle, is planning an initial public offering of its wholly-owned subsidiary.
The parent company intends to issue up to 349,010,000 ordinary shares of Searle Pakistan Limited, according to a notice issued by the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The IPO’s strike price will be determined by Searle Pakistan Limited (SPL).
Searle Company Limited was established in Pakistan as a private limited company in October 1965, and was converted into a public limited company in November 1993. Its holding company is International Brands Limited.
It manufactures pharmaceutical products; primarily cardiovascular, allergy, and cough preparations; infant milk formulas; and biotechnology products.
With six production plants in Karachi and Lahore, Searle Company Limited employs about 600 staffers and supplies products to countries like the Philippines, the UAE, and a number of European countries.
Searle reported a revenue of Rs. 12.06 billion in the third quarter of FY 2021, and earnings per share after taxation of Rs. 7.23 per share. Its gross profit stood at Rs. 6.17 billion, and it declared that its gross profit margins increased from 49 percent to 51 percent.
Additionally, Searle’s profit from operations rose from 23 percent to 26 percent, while its profit after taxation stood at 14 percent.
Pakistan has had a rising number of startup funding rounds and IPOs this year, with eight IPOs offered in FY 2021 as compared to none in the previous fiscal year.
Last week, the IT services company Octopus Digital’s IPO was oversubscribed by a record 27 times, and raised a capital of Rs. 1.11 billion. It sold 27.35 million shares at Rs. 40.6 per share.
Similarly, the smartphone assembler Air Link Communication raised Rs. 6.43 billion in Pakistan’s most lucrative private sector IPO. It sold 90 million shares at a price of Rs. 71.5 per share.
Freight startup BridgeLinx recently raised $10 million in the country’s largest seed funding round, while the digital healthcare company Ailaaj won $1.6 million in funding.
