Financial Times

Dialog IPO likely in June
By Duruthu Edirimuni
MTN Networks (Private) Ltd, the country's largest mobile operator with the Dialog brand, is expected to go public in June, offering the biggest-ever IPO offering worth US$ 40 million (Rs 4 billion), analysts said, in a development that was first reported by The Sunday Times FT in early February.

The company's senior hierarchy including CEO Dr Hans Wijeyasuriya was not available for comment but last week its owning company, Malaysia-based Telekom Malaysia Bhd, said in a statement that the Colombo subsidiary is exploring the possibility of an IPO.

Analysts said that the company better known as Dialog plans to offer 20 percent of its 37 million shares to the public in an IPO that is worth more than Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) which raised Rs. 3.6 billion - the largest amount to be raised by a company on the Colombo bourse so far.

The company doesn't need the cash since its capital structure is healthy, but IPO revenue is likely to be routed to the company's operations particularly introducing new technology to the Sri Lankan market.

A company source said that the mobile phone operator is planning to introduce higher range in their GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) technology, which is presently running at 2.5 Generation, within the next year. "We will be introducing 3G or third-generation technology, which has a higher rate of transfer of data, while supporting audio and video transmission as well," he said.

Back to Business