Funds Accrued From Adb Offer Valid

Proceeds from the sale of adb shares that started from July 3 will remain valid despite a halt in the primary offer, the bank has stated.

The Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF) on Monday secured a 10-day interim injunction on adb’s primary offer which was expected to end in the first week of August unless extended.

It argued that the bank’s decision to push the initial public offer has not been transparent. It is also seeking a declaration that the government has not got the sole mandate to authorize adb to sell shares to the public and trade on the stock exchange, adding the general oversight duties of Parliament under article 108 of the 1992 constitution, Article 181 clause 1 of the 1992 constitution and section 19 of the Act 286 requires the concurrent approval of parliament.

But a circular from adb that “all adb offer applications and payments received prior to this temporary injunction will remain valid until otherwise determined by the bank”.

It explained that the “public, adb, Standard Chartered Bank and all licensed dealing members of the Ghana Stock Exchange are required to put on hold all activities in relation to the ADB IPO process including but not limited to the receipt of offer subscriptions”.

The statement added that any further information relating to the primary offer will be communicated to the public via the Ghana Stock Exchange and/or at least one national daily newspaper

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission has described the injunction placed on the ADB shares as a test for the Ghanaian capital market which will send a positive signal to the investing public and lead to immense growth.

Director General of the SEC, Adu Anane Antwi told Joy Business that adb’s offer could be extended after the ruling by the court.

This is the second time the sale of the bank’s shares has been suspended. The first one was in May.

The bank was to offload a little over 100 million shares representing 75 percent ownership of the bank to raise about GH¢300 million through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).