The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has approved the initial public offering (IPO) of Techno Drugs to raise Tk 100 crore from the stock market.

The stock market regulator gave the approval at its board meeting yesterday. The company will raise the funds through the book building method while institutional investors will bid to fix the share price.

Established in 2009, the drug-maker produces human and veterinary medicines and sells them both at home and abroad.

Additionally, Techno Drugs claims that it pioneered the production of oncology medicines in Bangladesh.

With the IPO proceeds, the company will purchase new machineries, expand its existing factory in Narsingdi, repay loans, and build a new production unit in Gazipur.

Techno Drugs' net asset value per share is Tk 27.74 while the company's five-year weighted average earnings per share was Tk 3.25, the BSEC said in a press release.

The drug company will issue shares to general shareholders at a 30 percent discount on the cut-off price. The price at which a company issues its shares for institutional investors in an IPO is the cut-off price.

The company's issue manager is Imperial Capital and EBL Investments Ltd.

Techno Drugs' sales dropped 45 percent to Tk 273 crore in fiscal 2022-23, reducing its profits by 59 percent to Tk 19.55 crore that year.