Shikhar Power Development Limited has officially opened its Initial Public Offering (IPO) to the general public from 17th Falgun, 2082, issuing 18,42,600 shares at a face value of Rs. 100 per unit. The IPO was initially scheduled to close on 22nd Falgun, 2082, with a provision to extend the deadline to 1st Chaitra, 2082 if undersubscribed; however, the company has revised the closing date to 26th Falgun following the government’s declaration of a public holiday.

The issued capital of the company is Rs. 98 Crores. Of this, 32.65%, i.e., 32,00,000 unit shares, will be issued to the public. Out of the total issue capital, 10%, which amounts to 9,80,000 unit shares worth Rs. 9.80 Crores, will be allocated to the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the Power Generation License project-affected locals, and the project's power transmission line-affected locals of Baglung District. The remaining 22.65% of the issued capital, i.e., 22,20,000 unit shares, will be offered to the general public at a later date. The shares will be offered at a par value of Rs. 100 per unit.

Of this general public issue, 10% of 22,20,000, a total of 2,22,000 unit shares, have been set aside for Nepalese citizens working abroad, 2%, i.e., 44,400 units, have been set aside for the company's employees, and 5% of the total offered shares, i.e., 1.11,000 units, have been reserved for mutual funds. The remaining 18,42,600 units will be issued for the general public and opened from today.

Global IME Capital Limited has been appointed the issue manager for the public offering.

ICRA Nepal Limited has upgraded the issuer rating of Shikhar Power Development Limited from [ICRANP-IR] BB- to [ICRANP-IR] BB, indicating a moderate risk of default in meeting financial obligations. The rating reflects the overall creditworthiness of the company and is not tied to any specific debt instrument. In ICRA’s rating system, a “+” or “–” can be added to indicate a higher or lower position within a category, meaning BB+ is one notch above BB, while BB- is one notch below BB.

Shikhar Power Development Limited (SPDL), incorporated in September 2014 and converted into a public company in June 2022, has a paid-up capital of approximately NPR 504 million, fully promoter-held. Key promoters include Nepal Opportunity Fund-1 (~20%), Hem Raj Acharya (~11%), Narayan Prasad Upadhyay (~11%), and HPS Investment Pvt. Ltd (~7%). SPDL has developed a 4.96-MW Bhim Khola Small Hydro Project, expected to begin commercial operations by January 2025, and plans a 6.05-MW Lower Bhim Khola Cascade Hydro Project in Baglung, scheduled for completion by June 2027. Both projects are run-of-river type and designed under 40% probability of exceedance (Q40), with development costs of NPR 1,120 million and NPR 1,125 million, respectively.