Shreedhar Motors’ $9million Initial Public Offering (IPO), currently open, has pushed up momentum in the IPO market at the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPX), coming on board just weeks after the listing of the RB Patel Secured Wholesale Corporate Bond on the exchange’s Over-The-Counter (OTC) platform and giving Fijians another opportunity to buy and own shares in a profit-making private company that has been in operation for 60 years.
SPX has welcomed the decision by the automotive dealer to go public, saying it will be good for the company, for the exchange and for the investing public.
“Shreedhar Motors has launched an Initial Public Offering or IPO to raise $9m in funds through members of the public.
“That’s a positive development for the stock market at large because it means that another company is raising funds to potential list on the South Pacific Stock Exchange and use those funds for the growth of the company,” SPX chief executive officer Sheraj Obeyesekere said in an interview with this newspaper.
“In terms of the investing public, it’s another investment opportunity, an IPO opportunity that has come on board for their consideration and members of the public now have the opportunity to assess the offer that has been made by Shreedhar by taking a look at the prospectus or speaking to the stockbroker firms and decide if they are to invest in the offer or not.
“But overall, in terms of the SPX, what we always want to see is more companies coming on board to come and list on the exchange and more companies raising capital through the stock market and we are pleased to see that another company has issued an IPO and we’re seeing that IPO momentum increasing as we now have back to back IPOs registered in 2024 and in 2025.”
Shreedhar Motors opened its IPO last December and will close it on February 27, 2026, giving interested parties enough time to put in their buy orders through any of the three brokerage firms.
Depending on the interest expressed and actual closing date of the offer, the IPO will count down for a planned listing in March.
The last IPO at SPX was by Sun Insurance in 2024, which was oversubscribed, forcing it to close early and it eventually listed in August 2024.
In 2025, RB Patel opened its corporate bond offer, a significant event in the listing of corporate debt on SPX.
Shreedhar Motors’ current IPO and possible listing this year has drummed up activities at a pace never seen before at SPX.
“That means that more companies are looking at allowing the public to be a part of their growth by issuing shares, which is a positive development not only for the stock market but also for people that want to invest in the market and also for the companies, so we’re pleased to see that,” Mr Obeyesekere said.
Shreedhar Motors was founded in 1965 by Shree Dhar Maharaj and has grown from its origins as the distributor of Leyland buses and trucks into the authorised distributor for Ford and Subaru in Fiji.
Interested investors can buy a minimum of 1000 shares at $1 each and must contact any of the three stockbroking firms to assist them in their purchase.
