Banco Caixa Geral Angola (BCGA) is the second company to enter the Angolan stock market, with an initial public offering of 25 per cent of the shares held by Sonangol, which is expected to yield almost 60 million euros for the state oil company.
The operation, which will run until 16 September, was presented in Luanda.
At stake is the sale of 5,000,000 shares with a price range of between 4,250 and 5,000 kwanzas (9.9 and 11.7 euros) which will provide the Angolan state, via Sonangol, with a maximum cash inflow of 25 billion kwanzas (60 million euros).
The chairman of BCGA, Francisco Rosado dos Santos, made a positive assessment of the Angolan banking market which, “has evolved very quickly,” and is now applying for the European supervision framework (Basel 3), “a very important step in terms of control, transparency and governance of banks”.
It also means that the Angolan financial market will be more attractive to international banks, “with a different risk that provides them, in terms of reciprocity and correspondence services,” he said.
BCGA will be the second company and second bank listed in Angola, after Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) made its debut on the Angolan Debt and Securities Exchange (BODIVA) in June.
The 25 per cent of the capital is aimed at three groups of investors: 15 per cent of the capital is for current Angolan shareholders, 2 per cent for employees and members of corporate bodies and 8 per cent for the general public.
Rosado dos Santos believes that this price is appropriate for the dynamism of the market: “We tried to find a price – and compared to the other share that is listed – that would allow an Angolan member of the general public who wanted to buy (shares) to do so without great discomfort to their personal finances.”
The Portuguese state via Caixa Geral de Depósitos is the biggest shareholder in Caixa Angola, with the remaining capital being made up of Angolan entrepreneurs António Mosquito and Jaime Freitas (12 per cent each), Sonangol EP (24 per cent) and Sonangol Holding.
Investors may change or revoke purchase orders until 12 September and the shares are expected to be admitted to trading on the stock exchange on 29 September.
The sale of Sonangol shares is part of the Angolan State Privatisation Programme (ProPRIV), under which 125 companies and assets have already been privatised out of a total of 178 planned, said Ednilson Sousa, representative of the Institute for Management of Assets and State Holdings (IGAPE).
