The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net GOVERNMENT employees accounted for $6.5 million in share subscriptions in APD Limited's initial public offering, Tribune Business was told yesterday, with the IPO reaching just over $45 million worth of subscriptions. Jamaal Stubbs, senior research analyst at CFAL, one of the IPO's placement agents, said institutional investors accounted for $12.5 million in subscriptions, government employees $6.5 million and individual investors making up the difference. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced in early January the Government would be providing a salary advance to give civil servants an opportunity to invest in APD's IPO. At that time, APD executives said that around 80 per cent of the one million shares had already been subscribed for. The 'bottom up' approach to allocating the offering's proceeds meant, however, that those who invested by the January 31 deadline were guaranteed the $500 minimum subscription. Mr Stubbs said investors from the family islands also accounted for a significant number of subscriptions. "Family islands made up quite a bit. We got a significant batch particularly from Abaco, Eleuthera, Long Island," he said. "A significant number of people went for the minimum $500 subscription. The majority of the orders were under $2,000 worth of shares. Everyone is guaranteed the first 50 shares or $500 dollars worth and the once we apply that across all orders, we then apply 25 shares across all orders and we keep on applying that across all orders until all the shares are allocated." With the IPO being so oversubscribed, Mr Stubbs estimated that $35 million would have to be refunded. "We have three weeks outlined in the prospectus, February 21, that's when we are required to refund or at least have started the process. We are almost there in terms of finalising the register." The $10 million APD Limited IPO was launched back in December. The Government and private sector have each invested $20 million into the Arawak Cay Port, and once the IPO is completed, the Government and private sector will each own a 40 per cent stake, with the public holding 20 per cent. A $40 million private placement, scheduled for next year, is designed to replace the original line of Royal Bank of Canada credit financing taken out for the construction phase. APD and its financial advisers/placement agents, CFAL and Providence Advisors, had initially hoped to launch the IPO in late September/early October, but discussions between the Government and private sector on how to structure it put it back to a December launch.