(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's Coeus Solutions Ltd., which develops and manages software for mostly German clients, plans an initial public offer next quarter as appetite for technology stocks in the South Asian country grows.
The Lahore-based company plans to raise $5 million by listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Market Board, Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Ahsan Naseem said. The company, which has a second office in Berlin, caters to 30,000 businesses in Germany including Audi AG and Allianz SE.
The offering comes as Pakistan is seeing record investments in its startups. The nation has seen its IT exports grow during the pandemic and is looking to double them in two years by setting up dedicated technology zones and giving incentives, after missing out on earlier tech booms in nations like India.
Pakistan's appetite for tech stocks is increasing as well. Software company Systems Ltd. is the top performer on the benchmark KSE-100 Index this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Octopus Digital Ltd.'s IPO was subscribed within 30 minutes and received offers for 27 times the shares on sale, the highest in the nation's history.
Coeus Solutions plans to use the proceeds to fund acquisitions and expand its products in the remote-working space, said Naseem. “We believe the Pakistani tech scene is ripe for a consolidation play,” he said.
KTrade KASB Securities Ltd. is the financial adviser to the transaction.
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