Asia Capital to broad base shareholding to match minimum public float

• Undergoing restructuring at present 
• Says issues with Japanese investors almost sorted
• Current public holding stands at 18.93%

Investment bank Asia Capital PLC (ACAP) will soon broad base its shareholding to be in compliance with the public floating requirements stipulated by the Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), a company statement said.

“We will soon look at the opportunities of broad basing our public float to match with the Colombo Stock Exchange’s Rules on minimum public holding,” ACAP Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Stefan Abeyesinhe said. 

He further said that soon after Nishan Sumanadeera was appointed as legal and financial consultant in September this year, the company has undergone the initial phase of restructuring and had almost sorted all the business-related concerns with the Japanese investors. 

“We are on the process of relooking and focusing at Asia Capital’s astute investors and our best assets in order to financially re-engineer them to be the key revenue generating assets to sustain the balance sheet with the guidance of our consultant team appointed by our key shareholders,” Abeyesinhe assured, highlighting on the latest initiatives by the ACAP group. 

The current market capitalisation of ACAP is valued at nearly Rs.1 billion, represented by 131,329,995 ordinary voting shares, according to the latest financials, as at September 30, 2020. 

The CSE Listing Rules currently outline that a listed entity, whose shares are listed on the CSE, shall maintain a minimum public holding requirement on a continuous basis and thus according to the rules, ACAP must maintain a minimum of 20 percent minimum public holding of shares, as per the float adjusted market capitalisation. 

Abeyesinhe noted that ACAP has already informed the CSE that the company is in the process of addressing the said rule, during the permitted period of compliance. 

As at October 30, 2020, Asia Capital’s existing float adjusted market capitalisation stands at Rs.154,136,943.85, with a public holding percentage of 18.93 percent, with 6,036 public shareholders.