By Dipo Olowookere
As a result of its failure to meet up with the 20 percent free float requirement, Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc is considering leaving the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
With this development, shares of Newrest ASL Nigeria will no longer be traded on the local bourse by investors and its shareholders.
The board has already submitted an application to the NSE for delisting of its stocks from the exchange.
A notice released this week disclosed that the application for delisting was submitted by its stockbroker, Helix Securities Limited.
Head of Listings Regulation at NSE, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, confirmed this development in a notice dated Tuesday, February 19, 2019.
The firm is requesting that its entire 634 million ordinary shares be delisted from the daily official list of the NSE “as a result of its inability to meet up with the 20 percent free float requirement of the exchange.”
Also, the board said it has set aside “sufficient funds” to be used to settle minority shareholders of the company.
“In line with the provisions of Rule 1.10 of the Rules for Delisting of Equity Securities from the Daily Official List of The Exchange which states that: ‘The Issuer shall set aside funds sufficient to purchase the interest of all shareholders who expressed their dissent to the resolution to de-list the Issuer; and the Funds shall be domiciled with a Registrar or a Custodian duly registered by and in good standing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),’ the company’s stockbroker has informed the exchange that it has opened and deposited sufficient funds to settle minority shareholders in an Escrow Account with Zenith Bank Plc to be managed by Meristem Registrars Limited,” the notice said.
Business Post reports that shares of Newrest ASL Nigeria were traded on the exchange at N6.45k per unit yesterday.
Adedapo Adesanya