ZIMRE Property Investments Limited (ZPI) has delisted from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) after minority shareholders accepted new shares in its parent company, Zimre Holdings Limited (ZHL).
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
In a statement, the ZSE said ZPI made a voluntary termination on November 10, becoming the second company to delist from the bourse after SeedCo International left last month to list on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
“Following an offer to ZPI minority shareholders by Zimre Holdings Limited (“ZHL”) to acquire ZPI shares held by minority shareholders in exchange for new issued shares in ZHL, ZPI applied for voluntary termination of its listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange pursuant to section 11 of the ZSE listing requirements,” said ZSE chief executive officer Justin Bgoni.
“ZSE noted that ZPI no longer met the minimum free-float for a listed company defined in section 87(d) of the ZSE’s listings requirements since ZHL now controls 97,6% of ZPI,” he said.
Bgoni said as required by section 64(a)(i) of the Securities and Exchange Act, the ZSE sought and was granted permission by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZ) to delist ZPI.
“In terms of section 15(d) of the ZSE listing requirements, holders of Zimre Property Investments Limited’s securities are hereby advised that the securities can no longer be traded on the ZSE with effect from 10 November 2020,” Bgoni said.
In September, ZHL issued a circular proposing to acquire all ordinary shares in ZPI, which were held by minority shareholders. By acquiring the shares, ZHL reached the threshold required for a firm to delist.
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The ZHL board wanted total control of ZPI to enable the firm to fully align the operations of the latter with its strategic interests. ZPI managing director Edson Muvingi told NewsDay Business recently that the firm would not shift its business strategy and vision after delisting.
“For me it (delisting) is more of consolidation,” the ZPI MD said. “This delisting is a shareholder strategy, but the actual business strategy remains the same,” he said.
He said the delisting had not affected the massive plan to rope in big property owners with buildings in a prime zone of Harare’s central business district (CBD) to come up with a project that would completely transform the area.
The plan involves redeveloping properties into top-end real estate gems with an expanded scope of services spanning from boutique hotels and housing units.
Many of the buildings have been run down through years of economic turmoil, which made it difficult for investors to give the properties facelifts. Muvingi’s vision will require millions of dollars to accomplish.
But he said if his proposal flopped, he would proceed with redeveloping ZPI assets in the zone that encompass First Street and Sam Nunjoma Street. Up to US$40 million will be required to complete the work, he said.
Muvingi recently said negotiations towards the deal had begun. “The numbers are not small, but it is the vision that we have,” he said.
“We have Nelson Mandela Avenue, First Street, George Silundika Avenue and Sam Nunjoma Street. In that block, we have been talking about Real Estate Investment Trusts for a while.
Our view is that everyone who owns a property around that area can come together and do one big development. That’s our approach in terms of how we want to develop. If we can’t convince everyone to be part of that development then we do our own because we have three properties there,” he said.
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