The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor THE Arawak Cay Port Development (APD) initial public offering (IPO) was yesterday said to be more than three times' oversubscribed, having raised "north of $32 million" with the tallying of applications not yet complete. Capital markets sources said placement agents for the (IPO), which was seeking to raise $10 million, had "not even counted subscriptions" from the Family Islands yet. Jamaal Stubbs, an executive with CFAL, one of the two IPO placement agents, did not return Tribune Business calls seeking comment, but the offering appears to have achieved the Government's objective of distributing the APD ownership base as widely as possible among ordinary Bahamians. The Ingraham administration had made ownership of key economic assets by Bahamians, and wealth-creating opportunities, a key policy goal, and it appears that retail investors will be the big winners with this IPO. Institutional investors are unlikely to receive their full subscription amount, given the numbers who bought in and bottom up approach to share allocation. One institutional investor said he wanted his funds to be returned quickly if they were not to be allocated their full subscription. Meanwhile, the ground is being prepared for the next IPO, namely the $37 million Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) offering. Tribune Business understands that Bahamian brokerage and investment banking houses are now waiting to hear who has won the placement agent/financial advisory contract for this offering, after making presentations to the Ministry of Finance last week. Among the contenders are RoyalFidelity, CFAL, Providence Advisors and CIBC FisrtCaribbean's capital markets unit, Tribune Business has been told.