The IPO period for Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Ltd (BTCL) drew to a close earlier this month after a flurry of interest, paving the way for an April listing, the telco announced on Monday.
Botswana's telecoms incumbent received offers for 462 million shares at 1 pula each, meaning it raised BWP462 million (€37 million) from the process.
"The total offers received are well in excess of this figure and thus we anticipate an oversubscription," said Kgotla Ramaphane, chief executive of the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA), in a statement published by BTCL. The telco received more than 40,000 offers.
The allocation committee has already started work to ensure "a fair and equitable allocation of shares among the applicants," BTCL said.
Various checks and balances must also be undertaken, and the IPO requires the approval of the Botswana Stock Exchange, it added.
These will be completed in time for the company to list on the exchange on 8 April.
As well as being the fixed-line incumbent, BTCL's beMOBILE unit is one of three mobile network operators in Botswana, the other two being MTN affiliate Mascom and Orange Botswana.
