By Peter OBIORA Investadvocate

Jan 24 2011 17.23 GMT

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – There are indications that Investors have shunned the sale of shares of Nigerian Bottling Company Plc (NBC) as an aftermath of its planned delisting from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Investadvocate gathered that those who placed others for the shares to be bought could not get it to buy as at Monday 24 2011 at the Stock Exchange in Lagos Nigeria.

However, as at the time of filling in this report, Investadvocate could not confirm if this development was as a result of the planned delisting of the Company from the Nation’s Stock Market.

Market Statistics made available by the Nigeria’s Exchange Monday 24 2011 shows that the Company was among the top five gainers when it closed at N38.58 compared to N36.75 it closed on Friday January 21 2011; indicating an increase of 4.98 percent (4.98%) in the review period.

Victor Ogiemwonyi, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Partnership Investment Plc (Member of the Nigeria Stock Exchange) in his reaction to the planned delisting of the Coca Cola Bottlers in Nigeria; affirmed the Company has no cogent reason to delist from the Nigeria’s Exchange; therefore should not be allowed to do so in order not to defraud minority shareholders that have helped built the company to an enviable height in Nigeria.

He further affirmed that NBC’s claim of wanting to delist from the NSE in order to make a N45 billion strategic investment and take advantage of other emerging business opportunities in Nigeria is not enough reason.

“The thing we are saying is that NBC’s claims that it is because of the N45 billion they want to invest, is the reason they want to divest does not make sense; because they have a shareholders base that is ready to give them the money they want,” he said.

Ogiemwonyi said that the Company can approach the Nation’s Stock Exchange to raise fresh capital by way of Rights Issue or Public Offering (PO). “They have not come to shareholders either by Public Offering or Rights and they fail to raise the money,” he affirmed.

“For instance of the N45 billion they want to invest, by the time they invest N20 billion and get set to raise the other N25 billion, the Market will be ready to give them the rest; in the first instance, they are not investing the money in a period of one year. They can do Rights Issue; Coca Cola is one of the most durable products in the world and can be sold anywhere. It is considered a consumer monopoly for anybody who has that kind of business. So why in the world do they want to delist?. If they want to delist, it is not for the reason they are telling us,”Ogiemwonyi said.

According to him, they already have 66% shares of the Company more than the minority shareholders and can use that to control the company; “why do they want to own everything? Except if they want to keep all the profits to themselves,” he queried.

Ogiemwonyi further affirmed that if NBC was allowed to delist without a concrete reason, other firms might likely follow in their footstep.

“So the danger in this is that if we allow them to delist without a concrete reason, we are going to find out that a number of other companies are likely to follow them, and this will be a complete reversal of the 1978 indigenisation policy that brought most of the companies to the Stock Exchange,”he said.

According to him, the idea is for Companies to allow Nigerians invest in them through the mechanism of the Stock Exchange; so NBC should not be allowed to reverse the trend which would subsequently pose a huge problem to the Market; currently undergoing reform for growth.

On December 14 2010, NBC issued a notice through the NSE informing the public and its shareholders that it is planning to delist from the Nigeria’s Exchange in order to emerge a wholly owned subsidiary of its majority shareholder, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company of South Africa through a proposed scheme of arrangement.

The proposed Scheme of Arrangement (Scheme) between the Company and its members is expected to involve a cancellation of part of its share capital; such that the Company would become a wholly owned subsidiary of its majority shareholder, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. (Hellenic).