By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The board of a Nigerian public limited maritime company, C&I Leasing Plc, has announced getting the go-ahead from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to reduce its share capital.
In a notice to the market regulatory agency on Monday, the firm said it plans to reduce its share capital to about 404.3 million from 1.6 billion, representing a 75 percent reduction or a ratio of four to one.
“C&I Leasing is pleased to notify its esteemed shareholders,stakeholders, dealing members and the general public that the company has made an application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange and obtained a ‘No Objection’ to its proposal to reduce the company’s issued and paid-up share capital from N808,505,000 being 1,617,010,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N202,126,250 being 404,252,500 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each by consolidating every four ordinary shares currently held into one new share in the company,” the statement said.
According to the firm, “The share capital so reduced will be added the company’s share premium account,” adding that, “The purpose of the reconstruction is to allow the company to have enough unissued shares to accommodate future plans to raise capital through the equity capital market.”
It added that, “The additional capital will be used to finance the company’s expansion plan, extinguish some liabilities and enhance the company’s capital mix.”
“The qualification date for the share consolidation shall be Wednesday, December 12, 2018 and the shares of the company will be placed on suspension from Thursday, December 13, 2018 to Thursday, December 27, 2018 to allow for the consolidation exercise,” the statement noted.
