IBP public issue next week

Petro retailer IBP Co Ltd8217;s public issue of 5.7 million shares is all set to hit markets next week on February 23. The issue would remain open for bidding under the book building route till March 1. While 25 per cent of the offer has been reserved for retail investors, nothing has been provisioned for company employees. The qualified institutional investors would get upto 50 per cent of the offer while not less than 25 per cent would go non-institutional buyers. IBP8217;s offer document for the public offer of government8217;s 26 per cent stake states that the company feared that it may not be able to retain its petro fuel dealers once competition sets in. 8220;To successfully compete in the market, we must continue to be able to retain existing dealers and identify and recruit new dealers on reasonable commercial terms in strategically located areas for which others also compete,8221; the risk factors in the offer document stated.