Leading thread manufacturing company Coats Group plc recently announced its decision of delisting its shares from the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) Main Board and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) following reduced shareholder base in Australia and New Zealand, and in a move to change from an investment company to a UK headquartered global industrial manufacturing business. The company plans to move towards indexation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and eliminate the costs and complexities due to triple listing and share register structure.
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According to a recent trading update, both, NZX and ASX have approved the delisting requests and in its next Annual General Meeting is on 18 May 2016, Coats will seek approval of the shareholders to delist from the NZX, which will require approval of 50 per cent of votes cast. “We are now a UK headquartered global industrial manufacturing business, having moved away from our New Zealand investment company in the past. All major investments apart from the Coats business have been sold, culminating in the Company changing its name from Guinness Peat Group to Coats Group. We have no material operations or Executive Directors in New Zealand or Australia and earlier this year Sir Ron Brierley ended his long association with the Company by stepping down from the Board and selling the majority of his shares. These changes have contributed to a significant shift in our shareholder register, with more than 65% of shareholders now UK based and less than 20% in New Zealand and Australia” said Coats Chairman, Mike Clasper.
The New Zealand and Australia shareholders will have a sufficient time of 7 months to think about their ownership of shares before the delisting takes place.
