Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) Debenture issue which opened yesterday exceeded its landmark of Rs. 1 billion raising Rs. 2 billion from 300 applications rewriting the corporate history books and placing itself as the largest rated and listed debenture by an unlisted corporate in Sri Lanka.

The issue was structured and managed by the DFCC Bank while Vanik Corporate Services Ltd are the Registrars to the issue. It was underwritten by a consortium of three banks, Bank of Ceylon, ABN Amro Bank and the DFCC Bank.

The issue has given the investors the opportunity of investing in Sri Lanka's infrastructure development sector for the first time. The funds had come from retail and corporate investors and other major financial institutions such as the insurance funds and the pension funds.

The SLT which received the approval of the Colombo Stock Exchange to issue more debentures in the event of an oversubscription, will now proceed to issue an additional 500,000 debentures, said Vanik Corporate Services Ltd's Senior Manager Krishan Kuruppu yesterday.

The oversubscription of the SLT Debenture Issue will be formally announced on the floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and will be formally closed at 4.30 p.m. today, said CSE Deputy General Manager Rohan Fernando.

The Initial Primary Offer (IPO) which is scheduled for June/July which is expected to raise around Rs. 30 billion (around US$400 million) is well poised to be the largest hitherto in South Asia. SLT's net worth of US$1.3 billion has equalled or exceeded the market capitalization of all listed corporates in the Colombo Stock Exchange.

With a turnover of Rs. 20 billion was the mark of the year in end December 31, 1999. The profit of the company during the period under review has been a staggering Rs3.2 billion and a post tax profit of Rs1.7 billion.