Regent Textile Mills Ltd, a unit of Chittagong-based Habib Group, is set to build two new units, including a textile mill and a garment factory, at an estimated cost of Tk 179 crore.Of the amount, Tk 125 crore will be raised through an initial public offering, while the rest will come from other sources.“Expansion of the textile unit will more than double its production capacity,” said Salman Habib, the company’s managing director, at the IPO lottery ceremony in Chittagong yesterday.The existing textile unit, which began commercial operations in 1999, can produce 40,000 metres of woven fabric daily, while the projected production capacity of the new unit is 1 lakh metres, he said.The event was held to allot five crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each, in addition to Tk 15 as premium, among successful subscribers, including general investors, non-resident Bangladeshis, affected small investors and mutual funds.Speaking at the lottery function, Yakub Ali, the company’s chairman, expressed gratitude to the subscribers for their interest, as the IPO subscription was oversubscribed by about 6 times.The company exports its products to Wal-Mart, Hemtex AB of Sweden, Red Cats Asia Ltd, New Wave Group SA of Switzerland, Bonprix of Germany and Silex Vyvoz A Dovoz SRO of the Czech Republic “Our business is currently with European nations and we are planning to enter the US market,” Habib said.Starting out as a trading company in 1947 in Khatunganj in Chittagong, Habib Group now stands as a conglomerate of 21 units with an annual turnover of $425 million.It branched out to linkage industries like steel, textile and spinning and ventured into avenues: cement, fertiliser, paper manufacturing, power generation, financial services and aviation.
