Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: As many as 23 companies have approached the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon), the stock market regulator, seeking approval to issue rights shares.
These companies are collectively planning to issue 153 million units of rights shares to raise Rs 15.3 billion from their shareholders.
According to Sebon, applications from 21 of these companies are currently under preliminary review, while the applications of two companies are at different stages of the approval process.
Hydropower companies dominate the rights issue pipeline. Of the 23 companies that have applied for rights issues, 12 are from the Hydropower sector. Similarly, two companies each are from Non-life Insurance, Investment, Manufacturing & Processing, Hotels & Tourism and Others sectors, and one is from the Life Insurance sector.
Among the proposals, Nepal Lube Oil has sought approval to issue rights shares in a 1:2 ratio. The engine oil maker is looking to raise Rs 145.72 million from its shareholders by floating 1.45 million units of right shares. Similarly, eight companies have proposed rights offerings in a 1:1 ratio. These include Barahi Hydropower Ltd, Maikhola Hydropower Ltd, Sagarmatha Jalavidyut Company Limited, Panchthar Power Company Ltd, NRN Infrastructure & Development Ltd, Nepal Warehousing Company Ltd, Kalinchowk Darshan Ltd, and Himalayan Hydropower Ltd.
In terms of scale, Ghorahi Cement Industries is planning the largest rights issue, seeking to raise Rs 3.76 billion by issuing 37.68 million units. Modi Energy is next, with a proposal to mobilize Rs 2.61 billion from its shareholders through the issuance of 26.10 million units. Likewise, NRN Infrastructure & Development Ltd aims to raise Rs 1.79 billion through 17.98 million units of rights shares.
