The entire issued share capital of First Aluminium Nigeria Plc was on Wednesday delisted from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) after what can best be described as a thorough delisting process.
The development was announced by the Nigerian bourse through a statement issued on the NSE website. The statement partly read thus:
“Further to our market bulletin of 13 May 2019, notifying Dealing Members of the suspension of trading in the shares of First Aluminium Nigeria Plc (First Aluminium or the Company) in preparation for the voluntary delisting of the issued share capital of the Company from the Daily Official List of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The Exchange), please be informed that the entire issued share capital of First Aluminium Nigeria Plc was delisted from the Daily Official List of The Exchange today, Wednesday, 31 July 2019.”
Following this development, the industrial goods manufacturer’s equities will no longer be publicly-traded on the Nigerian bourse. However, the company will continue its operations as a limited company.
It should also be noted that First Aluminium has now joined the growing list of companies that have so far been delisted in 2019. The others include:
- Great Nigeria Insurance Plc,
- Diamond Bank Plc, and
- Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc
The Backstory: Recall that First Aluminium Nigeria Plc first disclosed that it would be delisting from the NSE during its 2018 Annual General Meeting. As Nairametrics reported, the news was not well received by minority shareholders, some of whom protested.
Despite the protests, the company went ahead with the delisting process. First Aluminium’s Board of Directors also explained that the decision to delist was informed by the fact that shareholders were not exactly gaining anything from the company’s continued existence on the NSE as a listed entity.
In preparation for the delisting, the company’s shares were earlier this year suspended from trading on the NSE.
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