Feb 2010 Financial News

Furness delisting from TTSE costs $10m

Feb 23, 2010

The two per cent of shares held by the public in Furness Trinidad Ltd cost Ignatius Ferreira, its chairman and chief executive, $10 million after the company was delisted from the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE) last October.

“The major shareholder (Ferreira) bought back the shares, and not Furness Trinidad Group of Companies. “We were not interested in buying the two per cent. If the shareholder wanted to hold the shares, they can do so. It did not matter to us,” Ignatius said. Furness Trinidad, which consists of 15 companies, was listed on the TTSE, but had not traded since 2005, according to Wainwright Iton, chief executive officer, TTSE. The TTSE issued a statement in October 2009 stating that the delisting was being made pursuant to an order of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated May 14, 2009, under Section 45 of the Securities Industry Act (1995).

William Ferreira, son of Ignatius Ferreira, who also carries the titles of chairman and chief executive, said the delisting did not largely impact on the operations of the Furness Group. Speaking to the Guardian at their head office at Milling Avenue, Sea Lots, William said a public offer was made to shareholders. “The public offer was something which we were mandated to do by the Securities and Exchange Commission based on the last trading price of $6.15,” William said.

“Everbody was very happy with it, but you have one or two people who felt it should have been more,” Ferreira said. William said the SEC mandated Furness Trinidad to make the offer to shareholders, who did not have to sell their shares. “At the time we made the offer, just over four per cent of the shares were outside. It was the first time that my company had to do something like this,” William said. Among the companies in the Furness Trinidad Group are Furness Anchorage General Insurance Ltd, Furness Chemicals Ltd, Furness Shipping and Marketing Ltd, The Trinidad Trading Company Ltd and Furness Rentals Ltd.


Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday February 23, 2010

http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2010/02/23/furness-delisting-ttse-costs-10m-lead-business