SOME shareholders of Ecobank Nigeria on Friday urged the bank's board and management to follow due process indelistingthe bank from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).The shareholders, who expressed surprise at the proposed delisting of the bank, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they had notbeen officially notified.The President of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said that the bank could not be delisted from the NSE without the shareholders' approval.Okezie said that the bank should call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to seek the shareholders' approval for delisting.He said that the bank could not implement the board's decision without first explaining to the shareholders reasons for the delisting and the 'arithmetic' behind the share exchange ratio.Okezie said that the shareholders could be short-changed, adding that they would not endorse the board's decision if they were not satisfied with scheme of arrangement.'This is a bank that has not paid dividend for years and now they want to form a subsidiary,' he said.The National Secretary, Zonal Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Adeleke, said that due process must be followed as a quoted company.'We have not heard anything directly from Ecobank and they cannot take such decision without informing the shareholders,' Adeleke said.He said that the bank must convene an EGM to notifyshareholders of its resolution.Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, the Chief Executive Officer of Maxifunds and Securities Investment Limited, said that he was not surprised over the bank's decision, adding that more companies would want to bedelisted.Unegbu said that the bank was seeking delisting because its share price failed to reflect its true strength.He said that, 'it is seeking delisting to maximise what it has' due to the recent development at the stock market.Unegbu said that the shareholders would lose because what the bank would offer could not represent what they had lost after a long-time investment.Unegbu said that the Federal Government should provide friendly-operating environment to prevent companies from listing elsewhere after leaving the shores of Nigeria.NAN reports that the bank had in a notification letter to the NSE, said that the plan to delist was due to a proposed reorganisation of its share capital.The bank said that the proposed reorganisation of share capital would make its parent company, theEcobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) to owe 93 per cent stake.NAN reports that minority shareholders of Ecobank, under the terms of the scheme of arrangement, would receive one ordinary share in ETI for every 5.16 Ecobank shares previously held.The directors said that the proposed scheme of arrangement was in the interest of both Ecobank and its shareholders.
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