Nepal Reinsurance Company IPO allotment not possible during lockdown as per the issue manager; investors have to wait

Nepal Re-Insurance Company Limited had issued 1,60,00,000 units worth Rs.1.6 Arba as Initial Public Offering for the general public from Chaitra 4-7, 2076.

The issue had received massive 409,601 applications applying for a total of 5,57,23,480 units of shares till last day. However, the verification of applicants and allotment of the shares are still due. This can be attributed to the lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of the pandemic.

On inquiring about the same with the issue manager, the officials at RBB Merchant Bank said that due to the suspension of all services and unavailability of required human resources has forced the delay of the allotment process until the lockdown is lifted. The officials mentioned that the application go through multiple steps of verification which requires considerable workforce working at one place. To facilitate the verification process without gathering a lot of people would require more workforce.

Further, the officials mentioned that the allotment process requires presence of representative from SEBON, investors, issue manager and company representative which is not possible during the lockdown. Moreover, if the process of allotment is carried out by the company, it will lack transparency, as per the officials. They also added that the company is aiming to complete the allotment process within the first week after the lockdown is lifted.