Accra, June 18, GNA - The Ghana Stock Exchange on Friday put Starwin Products Limited, a pharmaceutical product manufacturer, on its provisional lists, pending the meeting of other requirements for floatation of shares and full listing in six months.

The listing brings to two the number of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises put on the provisional list this June in fulfilment of the Exchange's drive to get more individual businesses to float shares to get the necessary capital investment to meet their expansion goals. Speaking at the function, Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, Senior Minister, said the public could be encouraged to invest their surplus funds through the development of attractive investment instruments. This, he said, was necessary to facilitate the growth of businesses and enhance economic development.

Government, he said, could only assist in this direction by creating the appropriate policy environment to encourage the private sector to spearhead economic development in the country.

Mr Kwadwo Ansah Afari, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Worldwide Securities Limited, Lead Advisor and Sponsoring Broker of the listing said Starwin intended to raise 15 billion cedis through the offering of 30 million ordinary shares to prospective institutional and individual investors.

The price per share is 500 cedis.

"We arrived at this price after careful evaluation of the fundamentals of the company," he said, adding that the price reflected the current operating and financial circumstances of the Company. He said the money when raised would be used to extend the factory layout, acquire new equipment and machinery, expand the product range and enhance distribution efficiency as well as meet the growing export orders from the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) region. Mr Edward Boohene, Executive Chairman Starwin Products Limited, said the Company was responding to market developments in the pharmaceutical industry to boost its capacity in the tableting operations and create additional capacity for its liquid line.

Starwin Products Limited was incorporated in 1993 after the reorganisation of Sterling Products Ghana Limited. The Company currently produces ten branded products made up of dry mixed tablet line, wet mixed tablet line, liquid mixing and filling line and dry powder line.