Loss-making investment firm TransCentury (NSE:TCL) is seeking to delist from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), saying it needs to meet a precondition for accessing new capital from private equity funds.
The proposal to take the company private will be put to a shareholder vote at an extraordinary general meeting to be held via electronic means on July 30.
If successful, the move will close the chapter on Transcentury’s nine-year life as a publicly traded firm during which it has lost Sh12.6 billion or 95 percent of its market value.
It would join eight other firms that have gone private in recent years, mostly through takeovers, including oil marketer KenolKobil and motor vehicle dealer CMC Holdings.
For TransCentury’s 1,600 retail investors, going private means loss of access to trading liquidity afforded by the NSE.
