APS Bank announced that on Friday (today), the same day it opened its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of new ordinary shares, it will be closing the share offering at 3pm.

The same day opening and closing of the IPO indicates a massive response to the bank’s listing, with APS having offered 100,000,000 ordinary shares for sale, and an additional 10,000,000 new ordinary shares via an over-allotment option, at an issue price of €0.62 per share.

In a company announcement, APS said it has chosen to close the IPO on Friday based on information held by the Authorised Intermediaries and preliminary indications received from them.

All applications received by this time will be processed, APS stressed.

Marcel Cassar, APS Bank CEO, commented: “The feedback to our IPO has been astonishing and it became clear over the past hours that the response is going to be overwhelming. The decision to announce today a closing for the afternoon of 3 June was made in the interest of keeping all subscribers, and the market in general, duly informed. We are most grateful for the trust and support being shown in what is one of the largest equity IPOs in the history of Malta’s capital market”.

Earlier this month, Mr Cassar said that the bank kept the IPO local "as a sign of trust in the market community, which has brought us to where we are today."

Indeed, describing today's IPO as an investment opportunity of a century, it appears that the public has viewed it in the same vein.