NSE Delists Continental Reinsurance Shares After Acquisition

By Dipo Olowookere

Shares of Continental Reinsurance were eventually delisted from the daily official list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, January 17, 2020.

A statement issued by the Head of Listings Regulations Department of the exchange, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated that the delising followed the company’s application to quit the local bourse.

It also came nearly two months after the stock exchange management placed shares of the firm on full suspension. The suspension was on November 28, 2019.

The embargo in the trading in shares of the firm was done to prevent transacting in the shares beyond the effective date of the scheme of arrangement by which CRe African Investments Limited (CRe Investments) will acquire all the shares of CRe Nigeria.

According to Mr Iwenekhai, the “entire 10,372,744,312 ordinary shares of Continental Reinsurance Plc were [on] Friday, January 17, 2019, delisted from the daily official list of the exchange.”

He noted that this followed “the conclusion of the above referenced scheme of arrangement, and sequel to the approval of the company’s application to delist its entire issued share capital from the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

Business Post reports that shares of Continental Reinsurance were initially suspended in July 2019 by the NSE, but was lifted after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed the company to reconvene a court ordered meeting as a result of issues that arose from the first meeting.

In 2018, the board of the Lagos-based Continental Reinsurance said it had received an offer from CRe African Investments Limited, which intends to acquire all its outstanding and issued shares listed on the local exchange.

The board had disclosed that CRe Investments was offering N2.04k per share for the 10,372,744,314 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each or one ordinary shares of $1 each in the capital of CRe Investments for every 176 ordinary share of 50 kobo each held in Continental Reinsurance.