DURBAN - African Oxygen (Afrox) said it expects to delist from the JSE in the middle of next month (January) after all conditions for the takeover by the Linde Group were met, the group said on Wednesday.
The gas and welding company informed its shareholders in the morning that all the scheme conditions have been fulfilled and accordingly, the scheme transaction has become operative.
This comes after the Linde Group, which owns a majority 50.47 percent stake in Afrox, announced its intention in October to buy the shares of the gas and welding company that it does not already own.
Afrox share price gained more than 42 percent on the JSE on the day and has maintained those high levels of trading since the news broke out.
The Linde Group also announced that it would delist Afrox from the bourse and the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) should the transaction go-ahead.
As a result of meeting all the conditions for the transaction, the group will apply for the delisting of its shares on January 6, which will be followed by the suspension of listing and trading of its shares on the JSE and NSX on January 13.
The termination of listing of Afrox shares is expected to be January 19.
Linde pointed to Afrox’s low share liquidity, which deterred potential investors, as its reasons for opting to delist Afrox shares. It said Afrox was more suited to an unlisted environment and its continued listing provides little benefit to Afrox shareholders.
Afrox has been listed since 1963 and will end its 56-year presence on the JSE.
The Afrox board is expected to declare a special dividend of R1.18 billion, which equals R3.82 a share, if the deal went ahead.
Afrox share price was up by 0.16 percent to R24.74 a share on Wednesday afternoon.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE