BOC Debenture Issue oversubscribed on opening day
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BOC Chairman, Ronald Perera
The Bank of Ceylon (BOC)’s Rs.8 billion-worth debenture issue on Wednesday was snapped up by investors at the Colombo bourse on the same day with the controversial reversal of a BOC sale of its stake in Seylan Bank not figuring at all in buoyant, buying sentiment.
The bank issued 50 million rated, unsecured, subordinated, redeemable debentures at an issue price of Rs. 100 each with an option to issue up to a further 30 million debentures in the event of an oversubscription of the initial issue. “The debenture issue was successfully oversubscribed and closed on the opening day itself. There was a significant corporate and retail participation for this debenture and total applications received exceeded Rs. 10.2 billion,” the bank said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister ordered the cancellation of the sale of a 7.5 per cent stake of the BOC in Seylan Bank which unnerved investors in the market, ringing alarm bells.
The bank said that with this issue, total listed debentures issued by the BOC to the market has increased to Rs. 52 billion with the state bank maintaining its position as the largest issuer of debentures in the Sri Lankan debt market.