The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has resumed trading in the rights issue of integrat­ed energy company, Oando Plc. This followed the ap­proval for the rights by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to en­able the company source additional N48.8 billion from existing shareholders.
A statement by Oando said the documents in respect of the rights issue for the 2.217 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N22.00 per share, were “approved and cleared” by SEC ahead of the signing ceremony which held on Thursday, 13 November, 2014.
According to Ainojie ‘Alex’ Irune, its Head of Cor­porate Communications, the documents executed at the signing ceremony were sub­sequently filed with the SEC and the NSE, following the commission’s “formal con­firmation of the registration of the rights issue shares and approval for the offer to open has been received.”
A notice by the NSE, on Wednesday, said “Vetiva Securities Limited, the lead stockbroker to the Issue, has notified the Exchange of its receipt of the formal clear­ance of the Offer documents and registration of the shares from” SEC.
The offer, which already has shareholders’ approval, is part of efforts to finance the company’s asset acquisition programme thereby enhanc­ing its bottom-line. The com­pany recently acquired the $1.5 billion Nigerian assets of ConocoPhillips to boost its operations and leadership po­sition, transforming the com­pany into Nigeria’s largest in­digenous oil and gas producer.
However, its Group CEO, Mr. Wale Tinubu, was opti­mistic that that the acquisi­tion would help the company increase daily oil production exponentially by 600 per cent, equivalent to 45,000 barrels per day, annual revenue of over $600 million, and annual free cash flows of $150 mil­lion.
Meanwhile the Exchange in a statement on Friday said the decision to reopen trading in the rights issue was taken when the lead stockbroker got necessary clearance from SEC, the delay of which caused its initial suspension.
The statement read:
“The Nigerian Stock Ex­change (NSE), on December 3, 2014 notified all stakehold­ers that the trading in rights of Oando Plc was re-opened from Wednesday, 3 December 2014, to end on Wednesday, 14 January 2015. This deci­sion is subsequent to the Sus­pension of Trading in Rights that occurred on November 28, 2014.
On Monday, 24 November 2014, trading commenced on the Oando Rights Issue of 2,217,265,184 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N22.00 per share. This offer was initially slated to close on Friday, 19 December 2014. Subsequently, how­ever, Vetiva Securities Ltd, the lead stockbroker to the offer, notified the Exchange that Oando Plc was yet to obtain a formal clearance of the offer documents and reg­istration of the shares from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In reaction to this information, the NSE suspended the Rights Offer on 28 November 2014. Hav­ing received the Commis­sion’s approval to proceed, the Exchanged re-opened trading in Rights of the offer on 3 December 2014 to close on Wednesday 14 January 2014.
The Nigerian Stock Ex­change is committed to pro­moting just and equitable principles of trade and sound business practices in the Nige­rian capital market by enforc­ing its listing and trading rules in accordance with global best practices and ensuring that the standards set out are effective to maintain a fair and orderly market while protecting in­vestors.”