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Chrissworld Ltd., the first company to be listed on the empower board of the Colombo Stock Exchange will open its Initial Public Offering on the 27th of April, 2021. This IPO will also be the very first to be carried out by a company listed in the empower board. In a recent interview the Chairman of Chrissworld Ltd. Christo Perera shared his thoughts on the journey of the company and its potential future.
The company’s inception can be dated back to 2013 where they started with a single warehouse of 30 000 square feet with zero cargo and zero clients. Within a couple of months the company had reached maximum capacity. However tragedy would strike the company as the torrential downpour of 2016 that flooded Colombo destroyed the entire 100 000 square feet of warehouses resulting in the company having to once again start with zero cargo and zero clients. However with the dedication, determination and a valiant team effort the company managed regain its footing and now currently has 13 warehouses totalling at 500 000 square feet.
The chairmen noted that listing in the CSE was not one of the primary focuses of the company until they were approached by one of the ‘sponsor’ companies of the Colombo Stock Exchange Atrah Capital Partners who the company began corresponding with back in 2019. The decision to list the company was made in October 2020 & it was hoped that this would help create a positive image of the company in the fast growing logistics sector. The chairmen further elaborated that with the effective handling of the listing process by Atrah Capital Partners the company experienced little to no difficulty in the process of obtaining approvals from the SEC and CSE.
It was noted that the tax relaxations presented by the government did not play a major role in influencing the decision to list but the company does appreciate the certain advantages it grants. The Registration to the issue was carried out by Central Depository Systems Ltd, recommended to Chrissworld by Atrah.
Chairmen Christo also mentioned of a slight structural changes in the company such as the appointing of two independent directors to the Board of Directors in order to facilitate the regulation requirements. The company also appointed whom many consider as one of the best in the business Suraj Suraweera as the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of the company.
Chrissworld Ltd hopes to utilize the funds from the IPO to upgrade its facilities by introducing new racking & material handling equipment and the addition of a new warehouse management system.
Chairmen Christo went on to further encourage companies to be fearless and take the challenge to list in the stock market considering is a reliable alternate source of Capital.