YEREVAN, November 9, /ARKA/.He said the initiative of the Artsakh hydro company was a landmark event with no previous precedents of large-scale IPOs in Armenia. He said it was also important as the first attempt of trying to attract as many foreign investors as possible.

At the beginning of 2009 the Armenbroke Company, underwriter for the Artsakh Hydro OJSC, announced the initial public offering of the energy-generating company’s shares to the amount of 3.45bln AMD (over $9.5mln). A total of 3,285,715 shares (1,050 AMD each) were placed.

According to Melikian, the company has now 111 local and foreign shareholders, but he added the number of shareholders is not as important as the fact that investors believed in the company and invested their money in it at a time, when the global crisis was raging.

Armenbroke estimates the return on the capital invested in Artsakh Hydro OJSC shares at 14%, with all the further flows considered. The company plans to direct the proceeds at construction of three hydropower plants in Nagorno-Karabakh. Artsakh Hydropower Plant is the biggest company of Nagorno-Karabakh, providing 50% of its demand for electricity. -0-