Turkey's Dof Robotik (DOFRB) sold 45mn shares, amounting to a 29% stake, via a Borsa Istanbul initial public offering (IPO), Yatirim Finansman, which acted as the intermediary in the offering, said on September 8.

The transaction was concluded for Turkish lira (TRY) 2bn ($49mn), or TRY 45 per share. The bookbuilding was held during September 3-5.

No participants in the IPO acquired more than 5% of the offered shares. According to local legislation, intermediaries are obliged to file the details of real or legal persons who acquire more than 5% of offered shares in a Borsa Istanbul IPO.

Via the IPO, Dof hiked its paid-in capital by TRY 30mn to TRY 155mn while Mustafa Mertcan sold an additional 12mn existing shares in addition to 3mn shares sold by Bakit Baydaliev.

In the wake of the offering, Martcan holds 88mn shares (57% stake), including 5mn privileged Type A shares, in the company while Baydaliev controls 22mn shares (14% stake).

Istanbul-based Dof, launched in 2006, produces simulation platforms.

First since February

The Dof IPO was registered as the first Istanbul IPO since February. The "luck" of the company was the talk of the day on the market as it won a lottery for an offering while dozens of peers have awaited a green light for months.

The ongoing monetary tightening process has been hurting Borsa Istanbul. Additionally, since the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in March, political risks have emerged as another major negative factor.

About 100 companies in queue

In July, unnamed market experts told local business daily Ekonomim that around 80-90 companies were awaiting a green light from Turkey’s capital markets board SPK to hold an IPO.

No fresh listings are expected until the BIST-100 index achieves a new Turkish lira-based record and liquidity improves, the daily also noted.

Record highs in August, nosedives in September

In August, the index broke some records on a lira basis. However, September brought a fresh wave of political stress.

Borsa Istanbul, an interesting market

Prior to the records seen in August, another interesting occurrence was observed on Turkey’s stock market, where interesting occurrences are not at all rare.

Government-run Emlak REIT (EKGYO) tapped the market for TRY 21bn by selling a new instrument, a real estate certificate entitled Damla Kent (DMLKT). The instrument created fresh market losers.

13th IPO this year

In January-February, 12 companies raised a combined sum of TRY 29bn via Istanbul IPOs.

On its web page, the SPK lists 13 IPOs for the period. It counts the IPO of Armada Gida (ARMGD) since its shares were opened to trading in the new year. However, its IPO was held during December 25-27.