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SEC special approval to Royal Ceramic for early Asia Siyaka share sale

01 Apr 2013 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

Royal Ceramic PLC (RCL) last week completed the sale of the controlling stake of Asia Siyaka PLC to Lanka Commodity Brokers Ltd, using a special approval granted by the country’s market regulator.

RCL last Thursday sold 99, 450, 000 shares or 38.25 percent of Asia Siyaka in a single crossing to Lanka Commodity Brokers, despite the shares being locked till June as earlier noted by RCL in February.

“There was an appeal from Royal Ceramic to lift the additional lock-in period applied on its shares. Considering the current market conditions and the nature of the transaction, the SEC Commission decided to free the locked shares,” a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spokesperson told Mirror Business.

SEC last year brought in rules to lock promoters dumping shares to average investors in relation to share issues that came to the market after April 1, 2012, for a period of one year. Further, the SEC Commission on the discretion vested upon them imposed additional lock-in periods on certain share issues.

“The decision to do away with the additional lock-in period rule will apply not only to Royal Ceramic but also to seven or eight other parties,” the SEC spokesperson said.

RCL in February said in a disclosure, it has entered into an agreement with Lanka Commodity Brokers to sell 51 percent of Asia Siyaka in two phases—in March and June. The company concluded the first phase of the deal on March 6.