iEnergizer shares tumble on delisting plans

Business process outsourcing specialist iEnergizer updated the market on its plans to cancel its shares from trading on Friday.

The AIM-traded company said it would shortly post a circular to shareholders, which would include a notice of a general meeting on 16 May, where they would be able to consider and pass the resolution to approve the cancellation.

It said its directors had conducted a review, and believed the cancellation was in the best interest of the company and its shareholders as a whole.

They considered several key factors, including the cost, management time, legal and regulatory burden associated with maintaining the firm’s admission to trading on AIM, the limited free float and liquidity of its ordinary shares, and the unlikelihood of wider access to capital.

If the resolution was passed, the last day of trading in iEnergizer’s shares on AIM would be on 24 May, and the cancellation would take effect at 0700 BST on 25 May.

The company said the main effects of the cancellation would include the absence of a formal market mechanism enabling shareholders to trade shares, the termination of the relationship agreement between the company and EICR Cyprus, and the firm no longer being subject to the Market Abuse Regulation, regulating inside information.

It would remain registered with the Registrar of Companies in Guernsey, notwithstanding the cancellation.

The majority of the company's directors and senior management would be resident outside of the UK, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, and the firm said it would have no business operations based in those locations.

As a result, the Takeover Code would no longer apply to the company after cancellation, but could apply if further board changes resulted in its place of central management and control being in the UK, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man.

iEnergizer said shareholders would still be able to trade in its shares on AIM up to the cancellation.

After that, it said it was intending to make arrangements for a matched bargain facility to be established to assist shareholders wishing to trade in the shares.

The matched bargain facility would be in place for at least one year after cancellation, and would be reviewed annually after that.

“If shareholders wish to buy or sell ordinary shares on AIM, they must do so prior to the cancellation becoming effective,” the board warned on Friday.

“As noted above, in the event that shareholders approve the cancellation, it is anticipated that the last day of dealings in the ordinary shares on AIM will be 24 May, and that the effective date of the cancellation will be 25 May.”

At 0806 BST, shares in iEnergizer were down 41.46% at 181.48p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.