Baku, Azerbaijan, March 13
By Emin Aliyev -Trend
The first IPO is being postponed in Azerbaijan again, chairman of the Azerbaijani State Securities Committee Rufat Aslanli told the media on March 13.
"An issuing company seeks to hold the first public offering in the country as soon as possible," he said. "We are considering this issue carefully. The first IPO will be a great event in Azerbaijan. This event must be positive."
"The delay in the public offering of shares is connected with the need to complete all procedures," he said.
"The matter rests in the processes associated with the re-registration of the form of the company's ownership and other factors," he said. "Moreover, the audit of the company's activity in 2013 must be completed. The placement will be held in the middle of this year, according to the optimistic expectations."
Several Azerbaijani companies showed an interest in offering IPO's. GoldenPay, a company specializing in the field of electronic payments, is also among them. The company expects to put up 10 percent of its shares in the public offering.
The preliminary cost of a share will vary from 10 to 50 manat.
Pasha Bank will be a mediator during the first IPO in the country.
GoldenPay intends to change ownership and to reorganize into an open joint stock company.
Goldenpay is a provider of online payments in Azerbaijan, established in 2007. Through the Internet, the system allows local companies to receive payment for services or products by using plastic cards of any bank thanks to the cooperation with Visa and MasterCard international payment systems.
The portal of electronic payments Hesab.az, created on the basis of Goldenpay, serves as a platform of online payment on the Internet.
Hesab.az portal allows making online payment of utility services, mobile and fixed communication, Internet services and cable TV by using bank cards. The services of repaying bank loans and online insurance services are available for users. Currently, the number of registered users of the portal exceeds 103,000.
The official exchange rate is 0.7844 AZN/USD on March 13.
translated by NH
edited by CN
