2 December 2011
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has turned down an application by Puma Energy, the new BP Zambia owner, for a waiver which was to keep all the 25 percent shares of the firm on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE).
With the application for a waiver turned down, Puma Energy is now expected to ask the minority shareholders to sell shares through a mandatory offer.
The move to go ahead with the mandatory offer could see the company delisting from the LuSE.
According to Puma Energy broker, Stockbroker Zambia, permission for a waiver had not been granted.
Puma was now working out the pricing for the mandatory offer of shares on LuSE to the minority share holders.
Stockbroker Zambia Analyst Chenge Besa, said Puma would soon put out an offer price for the shares and depending on the pricing, the minority shareholders would make a decision.
Stockbroker Zambia has issued a cautionary indicating that Puma would not go ahead with the waiver because the move would not sufficiently meet the expectations of all the minority shareholders.
After buying the Zambian Unit of BP together with those of four other countries in the region, Puma stated that it would not want to delist from the Lusaka bourse.
The SEC listing rule demands that a company taking over a listed company extends mandatorily the offer to minority shareholders.
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