Zimbabwe: Demutualised bourse to list

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) had been transformed into a company from a mutual society, opening the way for a public listing on the bourse it operated, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday. The ZSE had been owned and run by stockbrokers since 1946, but after demutualisation the brokers hold 68 percent while the government owns the remaining shares. Chinamasa said stockbrokers and the government would sell half their shares when the ZSE listed. He did not give a date for the listing, but an official from the bourse said this should happen within three years. The 65 companies listed on the ZSE had a combined market capitalisation of $4.9 billion (R52.1bn) yesterday. – Reuters