Investors in the latest IPO to hit the market Knutsford Express may have to wait awhile to see their shares listed on the junior market as the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) this morning rejected the application to list only a few days after the sponsoring broker Proven Investments advised the stock exchange that the IPO was officially closed at 4:00 pm Friday, December 27, 2013 and that the offer has been fully subscribed. The company was trying to beat the December deadline in order to enjoy the ten years tax holiday.
The stock exchange deliberated for a long time on Monday but came to no decision as the company did not meet the minimum requirement of issued share capital of $50 million. The stock was included in the list of companies for trading at the end of Monday with the symbol KEX, but when trading started today, it was no longer in the list of tradable companies.
This is the first time in the stock exchange history that a company has gone to the public and raised the required sum as set out in the prospectus that the stock exchange has refused to approve the application. The development is black eye on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the sponsoring broker. The stock exchange and the Financial Services Commission would have reviewed the prospectus and ought to have been aware of any deficiencies that could have derailed the listing before giving the approval.
It appears that the stock exchange could have sanction the go ahead for listing as Section 502 of the rules governing listing of junior market companies states:
An eligible company shall, for the purposes of its initial admission, issue participating voting shares by way of an initial public offering subject to a prospectus seeking a minimum subscription of new shares (or allotment of existing shares) of not less than J$50 million and not more than J$500 million only.
It appears that the company complies with this provision. The problem is that the issued value of the shares on its books after such issue would only amount to $25 million even as the equity of the company would be more than $100m.
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Photo courtesy of Knutsford Express social media
[…] understands that Proven Wealth received a letter from the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) that Knutsford Express failed to be approved for listing under the junior market rule 501 governing […]