Historic SME IPO expected to take Chrissworld’s success to next level

Christopher Perera, Managing Director Chrisslogix greets Rohan Senewiratne – MD Atarah Capital Partners, after announcing the Chrissworld SME IPO to be issued by CSE’s SME Board on April 27, 2021. Chrissworld Director Suraj Suraweera and Atarah Cpital partners’s Vice President Chandana Wijesundara are also in the picture.

by Sanath Nanayakkare

Clearing the collateral -driven capital raising barriers for Sri Lanka’s dynamic small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are deeply woven into Sri Lanka’’s economic and social fabric, country’s maiden SME IPO is to be issued by warehousing/logistics solutions company Chrissworld Ltd, on April 27, 2021, to raise capital to enhance its operational capacity and profitability.

Chrissworld’s maiden listing on the SME-specific Empower Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has been endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after ‘strenuously’ engaging for seven months with Atarah Capital Partners (Pvt) Limited, – manager to the Issue of the maiden SME IPO.

The Empower SME Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange is a crucial platform designed to help smaller companies attract investment, and also for investors looking to invest in companies that are in their initial growth stages and are governed properly.

Christopher A.M. Perera, MD at Chrissworld said,” SMEs are the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy accounting for a majority of enterprises providing half of national employment and contributing to over 50% of the GDP of the country. The logistics business which we are in, requires a lot of capital for machinery, rental deposits and even for putting up our own fully fledged warehouses. We realized that we were supporting the banks to be on top of the business ratings when we borrow from them. Banks are making so much money from interest payments. And we are contributors to their big profits.. This opportunity that has been given by the SME Empower Board of the CSE for SMEs to go public has been very encouraging as we can raise capital at lower cost. Thus the initial thinking that we will never go public and we will always be a public company has changed. We are confident of the potential and the sustainabilty of the warehousing business. Warehousing segment is very sustainable because clients don’t easily change. The IPO will enable us to take Chrissworld to a different level. We can implement a lot of plans we have in our minds upon the successful conclusion of the IPO.There is a lot of potential in the warehousing side and professional storage solutions.

‘Our parent company Chrisslogix covers international trade, customs clearance, transportation and together with Chrissworld which offers warehousing services, we can offer total solutions to customers across the board. Then we want to look at sustainable business verticles like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and food and beverage industry. Chrissworld will also invest in advanced technology, high tech solutions to deliver its services at an optimum level. We are a profit making company and we are a making a value proposition to the investors through this IPO,” he said.

Suraj Suraweera , Director- Chrissworld said,.”We not only want to raise capital without paying bank interest, we also want to consolidate our good governance practices in the process because that will help us atttract more customers and increase our business.”

Details of the offer

Offer for Subscription of Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand (7,500,000) Ordinary Voting Shares at LKR 7.50 per Share to raise a total sum of Sri Lankan Rupees Fifty Six Million Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand (LKR 56,250,000)