7 November 2016 12:00 am
The minority shareholders of Metropolitan Resource Holdings PLC (MPRH) have been able to secure higher prices for their shares, as the company gears itself for delisting from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE).
The MPRH director board had initially quoted a Rs.28 per share price for buying back the shares, which was approved by a majority of shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting. However, a disgruntled shareholder, who opposed the price, had appealed to the Securities Exchange Commission, which in turn had asked the company to do alternative valuations and after discussions, had asked MPRH to give a higher valuation per shares.
While MPRH holds to its view that Rs.28 per share is a fair price, in order to avoid further delays in delisting, it has agreed to offer Rs.33 per share to buy back its shares.
The latest financial statements available for MPRH in June had placed the company’s net asset value per share at Rs.51.24.
MPRH had its trading halted on December 31, 2015 after announcing its intention to delist, at which point, the shares were trading at Rs.28.10. The company applied to delist its shares this February.
MPRH requested to delist from the CSE as it operates only as a holding company for Bogawantalawa Tea Estates PLC with 67 percent ownership.
Several other companies have been delisting from the CSE due to them not being compliant with the minimum public float rules that are set to come into full force this December.
However, MPRH had fulfilled its public float obligations with 21.02 percent of the shares held by the public.
MPRH Chairman Dinesh Ambani holds 24.41 percent of the shares in MPRH, Ocema Investment Company (Pvt.) Ltd holds 17.65 percent of the shares, Kelmarch Investments Ltd owns 16.92 percent of the shares and Sealbe Holding AG holds 8.44 percent.
Lars Murman owns 7.61 percent of the shares in MPRH, while its Director Carl Haglind owns 6.73 percent. Metrocorp (Pvt.) Ltd, a related party, owns 4.80 percent of the shares as well.