In Soloidere's efforts to increase the liquidity of its shares on the Beirut Stock Exchange, a block trade of 4.15 million local shares was executed on the Exchange this morning in a transaction worth US$ 94 million. This secondary sale of shares was marketed through an extensive management roadshow that targeted investors in Lebanon, the UK, the US and the Gulf. The success of the transaction was demonstrated in the amount of demand generated with the issue being more than 4 times oversubscribed and an order book worth more than US$ 380 million received. Almost all of the orders were generated from outside Lebanon reiterating the growing investor interest in Lebanon in general and in the SOLIDERE story specifically. EFG-Hermes Investment Banking acted as Sole Financial Advisor to SOLIDERE on this transaction.
As the Lebanese market’s biggest company in terms of market capitalization, the Company’s share has suffered from illiquidity of its stock on the local market, which had a direct impact on the secondary listings. In 2005, the daily average trading volume for SOLIDERE shares was 138 thousand shares for tranche A and 104 thousand shares for tranche B. Since the start of the roadshow, the daily trading volume on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) jumped 4.3 times to 590 thousand shares for tranche A and 2.6 times to 270 thousand shares for tranche B. The high over-subscription and strong investor demand are expected to help the liquidity of the stock going forward.
SOLIDERE, The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District S.A.L., was incorporated as a Lebanese joint-stock company on May 5, 1994. The Company’s core business is the reconstruction and development of Beirut city center, providing a broad range of quality land and real estate development activities and services. SOLIDERE shares are traded on the Beirut Stock Exchange and its GDR’s on the
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