CinemaONE Limited, parent company of Digicel IMAX, Gemstone and 4DX Cinemas, has made available to investors a 38 per cent stake—3,088,373 shares—through its initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO was announced yesterday morning at Cinemaone Ltd’s 4DX auditorium at One Woodbrook Place. The shares, valued at $10 each, are available to institutional, corporate and individual investors. The IPO will open for a period of four weeks, starting from September 1 and ending on October 1, and the official listing is slated for November 14. One per cent of the shares will be reserved for staff.
CinemaONE will be the first SME listed on the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE).
CEO Ingrid Jahra said after seven years, it was time for CinemaONE to take bigger, bolder steps as it continues to enhance and strengthen the business.
“Proceeds from the IPO will fund CinemaONE’s future development which includes expansion of the One Woodbrook Place facilities and the establishment of Gemstone at Gulf City, San Fernando,”she said.
Through the IPO, CinemaONE expects to grow its market share in local and regional markets and accelerate its expansion.
The offer also provides the opportunity to spread share ownership and anchor CinemaONE as a community asset within the markets where it operates.
“As the first company to list on the SME Exchange, CinemaONE, is also demonstrating its commitment to the growth of the financial market in Trinidad and Tobago,” Brian Jahra, the company’s Executive Chairman and Chief Financial Officer said.
“It is also fitting that we launch our IPO in our seventh year of operation at a time when we are looking to further expand not only in Trinidad and Tobago but in the region. In fact you are sitting in our newest 4DX theatre,” he added.
Jahra said the company’s current market share ranges between eight to ten per cent.
On June 8, 2010, CinemaONE entered into an exclusive 15-year IMAX license agreement with IMAX Corporation, in addition to two five-year renewal periods for a total licensed period of 25 years.
Leslie St Louis, manager of Brokerage Services at First Citizens, hailed the move saying it can encourage other businesses to follow suit.
He said the local stock exchange was opened several years ago with the expectation of broadening and deepening the local capital markets to encourage smaller entities to view equity investing as a real option.
“It will also provide a wider range of investments at possibly a more affordable price point for the younger investors to get in to the market,” St Louis said.
He said one of the challenges with regular main board investments is that a lot of those shares are not traded.