Alternative telecoms provider TeleMasters expects to delist from the Johannesburg bourse by around the middle of the year, if shareholders vote in favour of the move.
The company has been in the process of delisting since December 2010, but has yet to ask shareholders to vote on its proposal. CEO Mario Pretorius says the vote should take place in late March or early April.
Pretorius says the next step is to send out a circular to stock owners as the firm has received a fairness opinion. After that, the vote will take place and the company could be delisted by mid-year, he explains.
TeleMasters has been listed on the JSE's Alternative Exchange since March 2007. It operates throughout SA, with offices in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
The company wants to leave the bourse because it doesn't need to raise capital and its shares are thinly traded.
TeleMasters listed on the JSE's Alt-X bourse on 12 March 2007, under the code TLM. Its shares opened at R1.62 and shot up before closing at R2.60. However, its share value has since declined and stock is now trading at about R1.58, putting its market capitalisation at R66 million.
Majority shareholder, founder and CEO Mario Pretorius' family-controlled trust, the Maison d'Obsession Trust, will buy out shareholders holding 15% of the company's shares, at a price that has yet to be disclosed.
Pretorius explains the trust cannot vote on the deal, and 75% of the shareholders that have a say would have to vote for the company to leave the bourse. He adds the company, which accounts for about 0.5% of the sector, is “punching above our weight” by maintaining a listing.
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