Searle Pakistan Limited plans to raise an amount of Rs. 3.2 billion by offering its shares through an Initial Public Offering at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), seeking to expand its manufacturing facility in the country either by way of setting up a new plant or acquiring a pharmaceutical company.
The expected funds would be utilized to set up a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Lahore, capable of producing high-quality Intravenous (IV), Ophthalmology, Dermatology, and other Oral Solid Dosage (“OSD”) products.
As a second option, the company may opt to implement the project through a buyout of the local IV manufacturing facility in the country. In the event that the company is able to identify and acquire an existing facility.
Apart from IPO proceeds, the company will also utilize Rs. 70.6 million (2.1 percent) from its own cash flows for a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
According to the official draft document of the company, Searle will issue 240,462,134 ordinary shares at a floor price of Rs 13.5 per share, which constitutes 17.22 percent of the total post-IPO paid-up capital of the company. Initially, 75 percent of the Issue size i.e., 180,346,634 Ordinary Shares will be allotted to successful bidders and 25 percent of the Issue i.e., 60,115,500 ordinary shares will be offered to retail investors.
Searle Pakistan Limited is one of Pakistan’s leading pharmaceutical companies. It is in the business of importing, manufacturing, marketing, and sales of pharmaceutical products with a strong presence in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is a subsidiary of The Searle Company Limited (“TSCL”), Pakistan’s second-largest listed pharmaceutical company in terms of market capitalization and the only Pakistani company listed on Forbes Asia, Best Under a Billion 2017 to 2019.
In August 2020, TSCL acquired OBS and later renamed it Searle Pakistan Limited. It is among the very few companies in Pakistan that have entered strategic business alliances with reputed international firms like MSD, Vifor, and Santen. The company has one of the largest sales networks, comprising more than 500 medical sales professionals and over 500,000 prescriptions per day by doctors across the country.
