(Ecofin Agency) - The IT equipment distributor plans to get listed on the Casablanca stock exchange.  Its shares will be admitted for listing on the alternative market, "Alternatif A", created for SMEs.

Moroccan IT equipment distributor Disty Technologies currently plans to get listed on the local stock exchange. Its initial public offering is expected for Wednesday, July 20. 

Overall, the company intends to raise MAD171.6 million (US$16.9 million) by issuing 218,310 additional shares and offering 386,191 of the existing ones on the market at MAD284 per share. On Wednesday, June 29, during a press conference, Tarik Senhaji (photo), Managing Director of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, presented Disty Technologies as a 10-year-old company, which is the first to get listed on the exchange this year and the first company to be admitted on ‘Alternatif A’, the compartment created for SMEs. In 2021, only one company went public on the Casablanca Stock Exchange. Its name is Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC), which got listed in December by issuing additional shares and offering part of the existing ones for sales.

The funds raised by Disty Technologies through this IPO will allow the company to finance its development plan. The SME also intends to build its reputation with the general public and the financial community. It will use part of the funds for working capital needs, to fund external growth projects, and support the development of management tools and resources.

The subscription period will run from July 5 to July 8, 2022. At the end of this process, the structure of its shareholding will change. The investment fund PME Croissance -its largest shareholder as of April 30, 2022, with 58.32% of the capital- will sell 45.5% of its shares on the market and retain a 10% stake after the IPO.

Disty Technologies explains that it chose not to pay dividends for the last three fiscal years (2019, 2020, and 2021). Instead, it says, it strengthened equity in preparation for the IPO.   For 2021, it posted a MAD456 million turnover, up by 12.3% year-on-year, and MAD18.3 million of net profit, against MAD5.7 million in 2020. 

Chamberline Moko