The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has placed full suspension on trading in the shares of Continental Reinsurance Plc. The suspension was in furtherance of the bid by the majority core investor to acquire minority shareholdings in the reinsurance company.

Head, Listings Regulation Department, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Godstime Iwenekhai said the suspension was to prevent further trading in the shares of the company beyond the effective date of the acquisition. The effective date is the day the certified true copy (CTC) of the court sanction will be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which brings into force the Scheme of Arrangement by which CRe African Investments Limited (CRe Investments) will acquire all the shares of Continental Reinsurance.

Shareholders had at the court-ordered meeting approved the take-over bid launched by the majority core investor in the Nigerian reinsurance company to buy out retail minority shareholders and turn Continental Reinsurance into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The board of Continental Reinsurance had announced that it had received an offer from CRe African Investments Limited (CRe Investments), a major investor in the Nigerian company, to acquire all the outstanding and issued shares of Continental Reinsurance.

According to the board, CRe Investments is making the offer in order to initiate a much needed restructuring exercise for Continental Reinsurance, with a view to consolidating its operations and repositioning it for enhanced competitiveness in the global insurance market.

The acquisition is being executed through a Scheme of Arrangement under Section 539 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act Cap C20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and other applicable rules and regulations.

CRe Investments had initially offered N2.04 per share for the 10,372,744,314 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each or one ordinary shares of $1 each in the capital of CRe Investments for every 176 ordinary share of 50 kobo each held in Continental Reinsurance. However, the scheme consideration was revised upward from N2.04 to N2.10 per share, with the new price representing 51.08 per cent premium on the share price of Continental Reinsurance as at the close of trading on October 5, 2018 which was the last business day prior to the date on which the proposal was received from CRe African Investments Limited.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan