Banglalink plans to get listed in 3 years in stock market

Banglalink, the country's third largest mobile operator, is aiming to enter the stock market in three years, according to its parent company's top officials who met the chief of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Monday.

"I think three years is the right time frame to consider…we will be preparing ourselves," said Kaan Terzioğlu, group chief executive officer (CEO) of VEON.

"We have an aspiration…it's really important that when we become really profitable, hope that will happen very soon, we will be able to do it soon," he added.

Terzioğlu shared the plans while being interviewed by journalists at Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in Dhaka.

He is the member of a delegation which arrived in Dhaka on March 20 on a four-day visit and met BSEC Chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam at the latter's office in Dhaka on Monday.

Banglalink officials have come to the office and expressed their intention to get listed in the stock market, BSEC Executive Director and Spokesperson Rezaul Karim said in a media briefing.

Terzioğlu said $4 billion had been invested in Banglalink in the last 17 years.
"We will continue our investment every single year of $200 million to $300 million for the next three years. That is why we visited the BSEC yesterday to see how we can achieve that," he added.

He said it was not something that would occur overnight, rather it would come about when the right time comes because becoming a publicly listed company was a big responsibility.

"We have met the chairman of the BSEC and found the meeting to be very useful. We were informed about all the details," said Terzioğlu.

Asked what percentage of Banglalink will be floated in the stock market, he said it was really too early to say anything. "We will consider the right amount for that," he added.

Amsterdam-listed VEON holds 100 per cent stake in Banglalink.

Among the other two private operators, Robi Axiata, the second largest mobile operator, raised Tk 523.7 crore in funds last year offloading 52.37 crore shares at Tk 10 each.

The second biggest IPO was that of its competitor, Grameenphone, amounting to Tk 486.1 crore.

The revenue of Banglalink, which has about 3.74 crore subscribers, rose 5.1 per cent year-on-year to Tk 4,794 crore in 2021.