LTL Holdings stays Rs. 20 b IPO till Court ruling; announces options for investors including receipt of interest

LTL Holdings Ltd., has announced its decision to stay the biggest ever Initial Public Offering (IPO) worth Rs. 20 billion on the instructions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whilst offering options to investors who had applied for the same.

LTL said pursuant to a decision taken by the commission members at a meeting held on 1 October 2024, the SEC by way of a letter dated 1 October 2024, has instructed the CSE to maintain the present status quo of not proceeding with the IPO until the Supreme Court makes a ruling on the interim relief as sought by the petitioners in SC/FR/Application No. 263/2024.

“In light of the above, the IPO will not be proceeded with until the Supreme Court makes a ruling on the interim relief as sought by the petitioner in SC/FR/Application No. 263/2024. This case is currently scheduled to be taken up at the Supreme Court for support on 11 October 2024,” LTL said in a disclosure to the CSE.

LTL statement also said the following.

The company will not be accepting applications from applicants via physical delivery, CSE mobile app or CDS web portal from the date of this market announcement, until the company makes a subsequent announcement on the opening date of the subscription list.

Applicants who had applied for the IPO as at the date of this market announcement via cheque/bank draft/RTGS/CEFT/SLIPS are requested to provide instructions to the Registrars to the Issue, S S P Corporate Services Ltd., by filling out the instruction form (“Instruction Form”) to be sent to all applicants via post / email.

The applicants are expected to indicate whether their applications should be retained by the Registrars to the Issue on behalf of the company, until such time the company makes an announcement on the CSE regarding the opening date of the subscription list OR whether they wish to withdraw their applications.

The Applicants could communicate their desired course of action either via email or physical delivery (by hand or post), as per the instructions provided by the Registrars to the Issue, S S P Corporate Services Ltd., on or before 15 October 2024.

Upon receiving such instructions from the Applicants, the Registrars to the Issue shall take the following course of action for the applicants who wish to withdraw their applications;

i) For applicants who applied via physical delivery:

a) via cheques – the applications will be deemed withdrawn and the respective cheques will not be banked and an acknowledgement will be sent to such applicants within seven market days from and excluding 15 October 2024 (i.e. the cutoff date for receiving instructions).

b) via bank drafts – the applications will be deemed withdrawn and the bank draft will be dispatched via courier to the address provided by the applicant in the application form within five market days from and excluding 15 October 2024 (i.e. the cutoff date for receiving instructions).

c) via RTGS transfers – the applications will be deemed withdrawn and the application monies transferred to the IPO account will be returned to the bank account specified by the applicant in the application form within five market days from and excluding 15 October 2024 (i.e. the cutoff date for receiving instructions), and an acknowledgement will be sent to such applicants upon transferring the application monies.

ii) For applicants who have applied via the CSE mobile app or CDS web portal:

The applications will be deemed withdrawn, and the application monies transferred to the IPO account will be returned to the bank account specified by the applicant in the application form within five market days from and excluding 15 October 2024 (i.e. the cutoff date for receiving instructions), and an acknowledgement will be sent to such applicants upon transferring the application monies.

In case the bank account is not specifically mentioned in the application form or the applicant has provided inaccurate or incomplete details of the bank account, application monies will be returned via a crossed cheque in favour of the applicant.

Any applicant who;

(i) does not submit an Instruction Form on or before 15 October 2024 or 

(ii) submits an Instruction Form but does not indicate any instruction in the Instruction Form whether to retain or withdraw the application, will be deemed to have opted to retain the application and accordingly, the application of such applicant will be retained.

Considering the appetite shown by the investors towards the IPO and as a gesture of goodwill, the company will pay interest for the applicants who have applied for the IPO as at the date of this market announcement, through the transfer of funds to the IPO account (via SLIPS/CEFT/RTGS transfers) and by submitting bank drafts as subscriptions to the IPO. The above interest will be paid to such applicants who opt to withdraw/retain their applications in the manner set out below.

The company will pay interest at a rate of 10.49% p.a. (which is the 91-days Treasury bill rate published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on 19 September 2024) from 10 September 2024 or the date of transfer of application monies, whichever is latest, until;

(i) the opening date of the subscription list is decided by the company (in the event the applicant has instructed the Registrars to the Issue to retain the application as valid), OR,

(ii) the date of the application monies/bank draft are returned/dispatched to the applicant (in the event the applicant instructs the Registrars to the Issue to have their applications withdrawn).

Interest will be credited to the bank account specified by the applicant in the application form. In case the bank account is not specifically mentioned in the application form or has provided inaccurate or incomplete details of the bank account, interest will be paid via a crossed cheque (Account Payee Only) in favour of the applicant.

The company will instruct the Bankers to the Issue, Hatton National Bank PLC to invest all funds lying in the IPO account bearing No. 003010554703 in overnight/weekly REPO investments until the opening date of the subscription list.