TheCable

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has approved the delisting of shares belonging to Seven Up Bottling Company.

The company had filed an application to delist its shares from the bourse and end its 32-year journey as a publicly listed company.

According to court order papers posted on the exchange’s website, all shares belonging to Seven-Up will be transferred to Affelka SA.

Affelka is the majority shareholder of the company and had earlier offered to pay N112 to buy company’s ordinary shares in November.

Saliu Saidu, the judge who presided over the case, ordered Affelka to pay N125 per share to shareholders and that share certificates be rendered invalid.

Affleka has to buy 26.8 percent of shares held by minority shareholders to own 100 percent of Seven Up.

The 26.8 percent represents 171,542,574 ordinary shares of 50 kobo.

Seven Up shares had been placed on suspension in January. Under suspension, there would be no trading or price movement of shares.

According to the exchange, the suspension was to determine which shareholders would qualify to receive the scheme consideration under the Affelka SA’s buy out deal.

Some minority shareholders had opposed the move to buy out shareholders and turn the 57-year old company into a wholly owned subsidiary.

Seven Up Plc was incorporated as a private limited liability company on June 25, 1959, under the name Seven‐Up Limited by Mohammed El-Khalil.

On May 16, 1960, the name was changed to Seven‐Up Bottling Company Limited and in 1978 it became a public company.

The company was listed on the NSE on June 1, 1986.