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Private firm issues first IPO on Bosnia bourse
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Bosnian private firm Fratello Trade launched the first initial public offering in the Balkan country, publishing a public call in local newspapers on Wednesday for an IPO on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange (BLSE).
Fratello, a Banja Luka-based importer and distributor of frozen food products, will offer 295,000 shares at a price ranging from 4-5.20 Bosnian marka (2-2.6 euro) per share in the period of Dec. 18-29, it said in the public call.
"This is the first time that a company in Bosnia-Herzegovina is financing its growth and development in this way," Fratello Trade said in a separate statement.
Bourse officials welcomed the move, saying it was a major event for Bosnia's underdeveloped capital market.
"Our companies usually use banking loans to fund development programmes," said BLSE deputy head Darko Lakic. "We hope that other Bosnian companies will follow suit and recognise their business interest in IPO," he told Reuters.
BLSE is the smaller of Bosnia's two bourses. The other is the Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE). (Reporting by Olja Stanic, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Adam Tanner and Jon Loades-Carter)
