By Dipo Olowookere
A full suspension has been placed on trading in the equities of C&I Leasing Plc by the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The suspension commenced on Monday, December 17, 2018 and should be removed on Thursday, December 27, 2018.
The action was taken in the first place by the stock market regulator in order to facilitate the ongoing share reconstruction of the logistics firm.
Last week, the board of C&I Leasing announced reducing the company’s share capital by 75 percent to about 404.3 million from 1.6 billion on a 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 board had said.
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, while the additional capital will be used to finance the company’s expansion plan, extinguish some liabilities and enhance the company’s capital mix. With the suspension, the company’s registrars can update the register of shareholders for the planned share consolidation.