HVA Foods Limited is offering a 30 percent equity stake through an initial public offering (IPO) of more than 19.9 million ordinary voting shares at Rs. 16 each, to be listed on the Diri Savi Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange, the company’s Chairman said. "I will give you one word. Ecstatic! That is what I feel about the IPO," HVA Foods Chairman Rohan Fernando told The Island Financial Review when asked for his comments. "We want to expand. Most businesses are realising that this is the right time to expand. Like most businesses, we have also realised that we have been fattening the purse of the banking sector all these years, and the best way to finance expansion is to go public, not by borrowing," Fernando said.
He said the IPO was expected to raise Rs. 318.8 million, which would be used to retire ‘expensive’ bank debt, apart from financing expansion. The subscription list opens on January 12, 2011. HVA Foods exports tea under the brand name, Heladiv, Pure Ceylon Tea. Under a joint venture agreement with Beijing Pure Ceylon Tea, HVA Foods operates 10 high-end tea boutiques in China. Fernando said the company plans to take the number up to 100 boutiques within three years time.
"China is a growing economy and we have enticed the high-end market for Ceylon tea and I believe we are on the right path," Fernando said.
source - www.island.lk
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