THE Nigerian Exchange Group said on Thursday it has received regulatory approval to list 1.964 billion shares on the local stock market, paving the way for the bourse to broaden its ownership structure.
The proposed listing follows the successful completion of the demutualisation and restructuring of the former Nigerian Stock Exchange and its related operations within the new NGX Group.
The group – made up of Nigerian Exchange, NGX Regulation and NGX Real Estate – is majority-owned by stockbrokers following its restructuring in 2017 to become a profit-making entity.
It has said stockbrokers will hold 78% of the shares and that it will not be raising new cash from the listing. NGX Group Chairman Abimbola Ogunbanjo said the listing will create new financing opportunities and diversify its shareholder base.
The Nigerian exchange, the second biggest in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the main entry points to invest on the continent, has around 200 listed companies, all included in its benchmark share index.
“All regulatory requirements have been fulfilled and the listing has received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria,” it said, without providing a listing timeline.
Rand Merchant Bank and Chapel Hill Denham have been appointed to manage the listing, it said.
Shares of the Nigerian Exchange Group in April was quoted for trading on the over-the-counter market NASD at N25 each, following investors’ quest for liquidity, giving it a valuation of N47.5 billion.
But the bourse said it had not listed on the NASD OTC market, and that it will pursue a listing on the exchange at a later date. However, investors can trade their shares before the company listing.
“Shares of NGX Group are expected to commence trading on NGX following their listing by introduction” Other exchanges in Africa such as those in Johannesburg and Nairobi are listed with their shares publicly tradable.
Oscar Onyema, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NGX Group, said; “I am pleased to confirm that The Group intends to move ahead with its Listing by Introduction on the Main Board of NGX Exchange.
Together with many other listed companies, NGX Group will take advantage of the strategic opportunities open to quoted companies in Nigeria.
“As a listed entity, The Group will have access to the widest range of new investors, including the growing pool of institutional investors. Demutualisation has created many new possibilities for The Group and our listing is just one more step in our evolution.”
