If things go as planned, shares of the holding group for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and its subsidiaries would be offered for public trading at the stock market.
The listing of the shares is expected to be the climax of the ongoing demutualisation (conversion), which is expected to close in the third quarter.
It is hoped the shares would be made available for public trading this year, and there are speculations that the listing may be done by way of introduction, a process that allows the scheme shares from the demutualisation of the Exchange to be listed for public trading without initial public offering (IPO).
Under demutualisation, NSE, as a non-profit, member-owned mutual company, limited by guarantee is converting to a public limited liability company with issued share capital and shareholders.
A non-operating holding company, the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) Plc has been created as the parent company for the NSE and its operating structures. NGX Group has three operating subsidiaries – Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the operating exchange; NGX Regulation Limited (NGX REGCO), the independent regulatory arm; and NGX Real Estate Limited (NGX RELCO), the real estate company – forming the group. All the four entities have been duly registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
According to the plan, the emergent holding group, Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, will list its entire issued share capital of 2.0 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each by way of introduction on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, which will take over the trading function of the NSE.
Under the rules at the Exchange, immediate post-demutualisation shareholders of the emergent holding group may need to make initial shares available to create liquidity in the stock. Listing by introduction is a listing method for companies that desire to list its primary share capital on the Exchange, without prior public issuance.
As part of the process, the council of the NSE recently announced the chief executives of the emerging companies after the conversion of the NSE.
The incumbent Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, will lead the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc as Group Chief Executive Officer. Temi Popoola, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chief Executive Officer, West Africa, Renaissance Capital, will lead Nigerian Exchange Limited as Chief Executive Officer. Incumbent Executive Director at NSE, Tinuade Awe, will be the Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation Limited.
According to the scheme of arrangement for the conversion, the post-demutualisation shareholders’ base will consist of 255 institutional shareholders and 177 individual shareholders.