Great Nigeria Insurance Plc has voluntarily delisted from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Head, Listings Regulation Department, NSE, Godstime Iwenekhai notified the public in a statement.
Recall that the management of Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc had convened an extraordinary general meeting of the insurance company to seek approval for immediate delisting of the company from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The stock exchange delisted Great Nigeria Insurance from its daily official list after a request from the company. NSE disclosed that the company’s voluntary delisting will see all issued share capital delisted from the stock market.
“Further to our market bulletin of December 13, 2018, notifying dealing members of the approval of the application filed by MBC Securities Limited on behalf of Great Nigeria Insurance Plc for the voluntary delisting of the entire share capital of GNI, please be informed that the entire issued share capital of GNI were today, January 25, 2019, delisted from the daily official list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”
Minority shareholders who don’t have an interest in holding a stake in a delisted company will be offered an exit opportunity during the delisting process.
Reason for delisting
Great Nigeria Insurance informed its shareholders in an explanatory note on December 24, 2018, that since 2013, there had been no benefit listing on the stock exchange. Over the last five years, there had been little or no trading activity on the shares held by the minority shareholders.
“Shareholders are not benefitting from the continued listing as they are not getting any exit opportunity and their investments have been locked up as they find it difficult to dispose of their shareholding.
“Neither has the company benefited from listing on the Exchange as the company’s shares continue to trade at a significant discount to the intrinsic value. Moreover, the company is bearing unnecessary cost in complying with its listing obligations.”
The voluntary delisting would enable the directors of the company to exercise a regulatory provision that would shield it from any enforcement of action that the exchange might effect, such as the outstanding free float deficiency, the company said in the note.
Great Nigeria Insurance Plc
Great Nigeria Insurance Plc commenced business in 1960, with over 58 years of insurance underwriting, financial advisory, and real estate investments. Following Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s directive that required banks to either divest from non-core banking subsidiaries or form holding company to hold those subsidiaries; Wema Bank divested its 75% equity stake in GNI Plc to Insurance Resourcery and Consultancy Services Limited.