By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Capital Hotels Plc has announced the creation of an escrow account for the payment of about N1.6 billion to minority shareholders of the company.
The hospitality firm is leaving the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after years on the nation’s main stock exchange.
In a notice signed by Alex Ugwuanyi, the organisation said the account was created with CardinalStone Registrars Limited and has been sufficiently funded for payment “to shareholders” who “have accepted to exit” the firm by selling their holdings.
Recall that in March 2023, shareholders of Capital Hotels approved the request of the board for the delisting of the company’s shares at the local bourse.
The firm said its exit from the NGX would provide it with the “opportunity to strategize for better performance, minimize costs, and stay competitive within its industry.”
In the disclosure, the company said it had obtained the approval of the Nigerian Exchange to leave the platform.
The majority investors are willing to pay the minority N5 for each share held by them, an amount described as “the highest price at which Capital Hotels Plc traded in the last six months preceding the date of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), where the resolution to delist was passed in line with NGX guidelines.”
It said money from the escrow account would be paid to “shareholders of Capital Hotels Plc that elect to accept the exit consideration” as of August 17, 2023.
“The cash consideration will be settled by way of electronic transfer to the respective bank accounts of shareholders,” the notice clarified.
Capital Hotels, incorporated in January 1981 as a private limited liability company and converted to a public limited liability company in 1986, joined the stock market in 2002.
It business model involves the furnishing of hotels, and the sale of accommodation, food and beverages. It is the operator of the popular Abuja Continental Hotel (former Sheraton).