APS Bank plc has raised over €80 million in new equity capital, CEO Marcel Cassar said during a video statement delivered live, as the bank officially closed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of new ordinary shares at 3pm on Friday, the same day it opened to the public.

Mr Cassar said the exact figures will be made known in a matter of hours, and remarked that the “astonishing feedback” did not take the bank entirely by surprise, as feedback had been building positively over the past weeks.

He said the bank acknowledges that investment conditions remain challenging, and that the size of the offer was not small - indeed, it is one of the largest ever public equity offerings in Malta’s history.

Today, APS 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. It is the largest equity fund raised since Maltacom, now GO plc, privatised in 1998.

He said the bank did not close the IPO earlier to allow things to move forward “in an orderly manner”, meaning appointments would be kept and applications continued to be received. He stressed that applications submitted by 3pm, when supported by funds, will be processed over the coming days.

Work has already begun, with the support of the Malta Stock Exchange as registrar of the offer, to clear all applications and “eventually we will be in a position to announce the basis of acceptance”.

He pointed out that the prospectus published tied to this IPO lays out key dates, such as when applicants can expect to be refunded due to overallotment of shares, will now move forward. APS is expecting that all work tied to processing applicants for the listing will be done by 20th June.

Mr Cassar went on to thank its joint sponsores and managers, RizzoFarrugia and Curmi and Partners, as well as its legal counsel, Ganado Advocates.

He attributed “fastidious planning, great teamwork” and the offer being an “incredible investment opportunity” as the secret behind the success, while also thanking financial intermediaries, banks, investment consultants and stockbrokers who assisted APS “professionally and expertly”.

“To conclude, I will say that we set out to raise up to €66 million of new equity capital, one of the biggest ever issues in the history of Malta’s capital markets, and we saw this mushroom to €80 million and beyond, as the exact figures will be known later on today.

“Thank you for this massive vote of confidence,” Mr Cassar concluded.