Kenyan investors who bought shares of UK company Atlas African Industries have lost all means of tracking performance of the firm.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which is mandated by law to protect interests of investors who put their money in public listed companies, Tuesday said it would investigate the company over the information blackout.
On May 8 last year the company was suspended from trading at the NSE’s Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) where it had been listed for a period of 90 days, making its stock illiquid for existing and prospective shareholders.
Hundreds of Kenyan investors who bought shares of UK company Atlas African Industries #ticker:ADSS have lost all means of tracking performance of the firm after collapse of its website, the only means left for communicating with shareholders.
Atlas African Industries, whose shares are suspending from trading both at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange, had maintained the website as the only link with shareholders following its controversial exit from Kenya in an apparent shift of operations to Ethiopia.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which is mandated by law to protect interests of investors who put their money in public listed companies, Tuesday said it would investigate the company over the information blackout.
“That is something we will be engaging the company on,” said CMA chief executive Paul Muthaura. The Business Daily could not immediately confirm the number of Kenyan investors still holding Atlas’ shares.
Through its nominated advisors in Kenya, Burbidge Capital, Atlas yesterday attributed the website’s collapse to a “technical issue.” “We have informed them (Atlas) and they are fixing that. It is just an issue with the domain and we will let you know as soon as they are back on,” said an official at Burbidge Capital in a telephone interview. The website, www.atlassupport.com, remained down by the time of going to press.
Burbidge Capital, which acts as a key link to the company, did not give timelines for when the site would be back up.
The loss-making Atlas, which offered support services in the oil and gas industry, had a troubled short history since listing on the NSE in December 2014.
The firm shut down its Kenyan operations in 2015 to apparently focus on growing its Ethiopian business. The Ethiopian business ran into regulatory problems shortly thereafter.
On May 8 last year the company was suspended from trading at the NSE’s Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) where it had been listed for a period of 90 days, making its stock illiquid for existing and prospective shareholders.
NSE chief executive officer Geoffrey Odundo attributed the suspension to the firm’s unresolved issues at the London Stock Exchange where it was suspended on October 17 2016 following the resignation of its UK nominated adviser Stifel Nicolaus.
Its Kenyan nominated advisor Burbidge Capital had also at one point resigned from their role but were requested to stay on by the regulator to help steer the company’s affairs towards a resolution.
The May 8 suspension of the troubled company from the Nairobi bourse rocked remaining hopes of existing shareholders that Atlas would resume trading.
“As far as I am aware existing shareholders have already been diluted practically to nothing. Therefore, this suspension is a ‘last rites’ scenario, in my opinion,” said investment analyst and Rich Management CEO Aly-Khan Satchu at the time.
Atlas’ entry into Ethiopia through the acquisition of TEAP Glass turned problematic after the subsidiary was embroiled in a tax dispute.
Mr Odundo said last May the NSE had continually engaged the company with aim to resolve the issue of non-compliance “in the best interests of its shareholders” to no avail.
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