Book Building Fully Subscribed in Just 8 Minutes as IPO Draws 25,000 Applications Nationwide

Karachi: Sitara Petroleum Service Limited has successfully completed one of Pakistan’s largest and most widely participated Initial Public Offerings (IPO), raising approximately Rs4.8 billion through its listing at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The IPO recorded nearly 25,000 applications across both book building and retail segments, marking the highest participation in Pakistan’s IPO history. The book building portion, comprising 126 million ordinary shares, was fully subscribed within just eight minutes and oversubscribed seven times, while the retail portion received around 24,000 applications and was oversubscribed by 3.4 times.

The overall transaction included 279.9 million ordinary shares through Pre-IPO and IPO offerings, representing 16.66 percent of the company’s post-IPO paid-up capital.

The floor price for the IPO was set at Rs13.50 per share, while strong investor demand pushed the strike price to Rs18.90 per share, hitting the upper price band. The IPO component alone raised Rs3.17 billion at the discovered strike price.

The offering attracted institutional investors, corporate entities, high-net-worth individuals, and retail investors, reflecting growing confidence in Pakistan’s capital markets and the company’s future growth prospects.

Arif Habib Limited and Integrated Equities Limited acted as Joint Lead Managers for the transaction.

Speaking at the listing ceremony, Farrukh H. Sabzwari said the success of the IPO demonstrated the resilience of Pakistan’s capital markets despite global economic challenges. He noted that retail investor numbers had reached 545,000 due to increased awareness initiatives targeting younger investors.

Sitara Petroleum CEO Zaheer Baig termed the IPO a historic milestone for the company, stating that the funds raised would support expansion plans, strengthen its retail fuel station network, improve logistics operations, and enhance service delivery across Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Shahid Ali Habib said the IPO set several benchmarks in Pakistan’s capital market, including one of the fastest fully subscribed book building phases and one of the largest private-sector IPO transactions in the country’s history.