Oscar Onyema
Ahead of its demutualisation exercise, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to hold a Court-Ordered Meeting with its members on March 3, 2020.
The notice of the meeting obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos stated that the exchange obtained an order of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Jan. 20 to convene the meeting.
NAN reports that members at the meeting would consider the scheme of arrangement for the proposed demutualisation programme.
Demutualisation of a stock exchange is a process by which a non-profit, member/brokers owned mutual exchange is converted into a profit seeking shareholder corporation, open to members of the public.
Demutualising an exchange therefore transforms it from being owned by members or brokers, to one with a different governance structure where members of the public can buy shares.
Recall that Mr Oscar Onyema, NSE Chief Executive Officer, on Jan. 13, said that it had obtained the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) final approval termed ‘no objection’ for the demutualisation of the nation’s bourse.
Onyema said that the letter was received by the exchange in December for final stage of the demutualisation process.
“Now that we have seen the ‘No objection’ letter from the SEC in December, we are now putting in place final touches to have the court ordered meeting and the Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM).
“There will be significant engagement with investors, press and our primary constituency the brokers and other members of the exchange and the general public. So there is a very robust plan already in place.
“We are working as quickly as we can to complete it and we hope that very soon, we will put out the notices for the EGM, there is statutory requirement, you have to wait for 28 days for the court ordered meeting and 21 days for EGM,” Onyema had said.
He added: “We are following the process and we worked through the holiday period to see how quickly we can bring in these meetings.”
The notice of the Court-Ordered Meeting indicated that members were expected to pass about 12 special resolutions.
NAN reports that the special resolutions include the conversion of NSE from a company limited by guarantee to a company limited by shares; and re-registered as a public company in the name Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
Also, that an authorised share capital of N1.25 billion consisting of 2.50 billion ordinary shares of 50k each be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission for Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, among others.
The meeting notice stated that all members whose names were included in the register of members as at May 11, 2017, were entitled to attend and vote at the Court-Ordered Meeting.
It added that the scheme would be subject to the subsequent approval of the SEC and the sanction of the Federal High Court.
