Trustco Group Holdings has been given the greenlight by its minority shareholders to delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and seek new listing elsewhere.
This was after the minority shareholders voted in favour of all resolutions set out in the group’s non-binding advisory vote conducted this week.
“The Board welcomed the input as received from the minority Shareholders and noted the contents thereof. The minority Shareholders concurred that they benefited from the loan write-offs by the majority Shareholder and therefore endorse it. The Shareholders further opined that they don’t believe Trustco’s current listings are in the best interest of all Shareholders,†the company said in a SENS announcement.
TrustCo’s delisting from one of Africa’s largest stock exchanges will also result in the diversified group delisting the Namibian Stock Exchange where it has a secondary listing.
Raymond Heathcote, Trustco’s independent non-executive chairman, said the board took note of the direction minority shareholders wanted the group to take.
“The Board will consider the outcome of the votes to develop an optimal roadmap forward for all Trustco Shareholders. We listened, and any action resulting from the engagement with minority Shareholders, will be implemented in accordance with the Listings Requirements,” he said.
The latest development comes after the company accused the JSE of undermining the independence, accountability and integrity of its board by questioning its financials.
The JSE insists that the Namibian company, with operations in insurance and investments, resources, and banking and finance, revises and restates its financial information for the year ended March 31, 2019 and interim results for the six months to September 30, 2019, which the bourse found not to be compliant with its listings requirements.
The South Africa-based bourse claimed it found errors that pushed up Trustco’s profits by a combined N$2.1 billion, a position which the company has disputed.
