Carson divesting Pegasus shares; move to comply with free float rules?

16 July 2015 02:39 am

Diversified conglomerate Carson Cumberbatch PLC may be divesting a minor segment of its shares in Pegasus Hotels of Ceylon PLC in order to maintain the leisure subsidiary’s listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange pursuant to the minimum float rules.

Carson Cumberbatch divested 39,245 Pegasus shares at the end of May for Rs.46-47 and 85,411 shares last week ranging from Rs.40-45.

The shares divested represent just 0.004 percent of the total shareholding.

Carson Cumberbatch held 93.09 percent of the shares in Pegasus Hotels for the quarter ending March 2015, while the public shareholding was 6.90 percent.
According to the revision of listing rules in 2013, companies trading in the Main Board are required to have a minimum public shareholding of 20 percent, while those trading in the secondary Diri Savi Board are required to have a public float of 10 percent.

Therefore, Pegasus Hotels may be attempting to downgrade itself to the Diri Savi board to remain as a listed entity, a move allowed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rule will come into force in December 2016. A few companies had been adamant about maintaining their shareholder structure, which would violate the rule. Therefore, some of them delisted from the stock exchange late last year with the regulatory approval.

The Carson group’s four oil palm subsidiaries too are expected to be delisted soon, as the parent company informed of it in its annual report and has purchased over 90 percent of the shares in the subsidiaries.