Belizeans Oversubscribe Hydro Belize Share Offering

There’s a surge of excitement around the newly nationalized hydropower company, so much so that Belizeans have snapped up more shares than were even available. Demand shot past expectations, with locals and major institutions applying for roughly four‑and‑a‑half million shares, about half a million more than the initial offering. At just twenty‑nine dollars a share, more than two thousand individual investors jumped in, along with credit unions, pension funds, and even the Social Security Board. Now, to meet that overwhelming demand, the government says it will release additional shares it had held back, while Hydro Belize gears up to issue bonds to buy out the state’s remaining stake. And by February 2026, the company that powers nearly a third of Belize’s electricity grid will be fully in private hands. So, what does this wave of investment really mean, and what comes next for shareholders? Today, we put those questions to Hydro Belize President Kay Menzies.

 

On the Phone: Kay Menzies, President, Hydro Belize Limited

“This is relatively new. It’s been a long time since there’s been an IPO of any kind, any public share offering. Probably, maybe you weren’t born the last time it was done for BEL or BTL. This is new and what it is now that everybody has applied and will have received a response either by email or in person when if they delivered at the bank saying, we’ve received your application. What happens now is that these applications will be processed, will be the people handling that will make sure that all the relevant IDs have been received, that this is a valid applicant in every respect under the law because we are guided by securities law and payment will have to be made if people haven’t been able to put through their payment yet, they still have a window for that until the fourth of February. After that, if payment hasn’t been made, that application will be in invalidated. So at the end of all of that, once the applications are reconciled and the payments are reconciled, then shareholders will be notified that their certificates are ready and delivery or pickup will be arranged. I don’t, I’m not yet aware of the specifics with getting shares to shareholders, but communication will occur letting shareholders know how they’ll get their shares. So that confirmation will take a few days because it’s, over two thousand applications being processed. But they should be hearing I would say in the next week or two, where things are going next, but that’s what they should be expecting. The stages are to make sure payment is received, make sure the application is valid in all respects, and then prepare the shares and contact the share owners to say, we’ve got it ready for you.”