Pakistan’s largest shoe exporter, Service Global Footwear Ltd is planning to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in the coming days this month.

As per Bloomberg, Service Global Footwear plans to use the funds generated through IPO to buy about 20 percent stake in a joint venture set up by Service Industries and China’s Chaoyang Long March Tyre Co.

“The business will manufacture truck and bus radial tires in Pakistan for export from a factory near Karachi. At a cost of about $250 million over seven years, it’s the largest investment in a tire manufacturing plant in the country. The first phase will start operations in August,” said Shahid Ali Habib, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Ltd., the sole adviser on the IPO.

The shoemaker plans to raise at least Rs 1.6 billion or $10 million by offering 41 million shares at a price of Rs 38 each, Habib said.

“The price could be boosted by as much as 40%, meaning Service Global Footwear could raise as much as $14 million,” Habib added. “The company is scheduled to start taking investor orders as soon as the last week of March.”

Last month, it was reported that Citi Pharma, the Lahore-based pharmaceutical plans to go public, in what is expected to be the biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO) by a pharmaceutical in Pakistan.

The pharma aims to raise over Rs 2.85 billion or USD18 million, seeking advantage of the rising trends at the PSX, which was recently crowned among the world’s best performing bourses.