eBusiness Weekly
. . . as shareholders approve de-merger
Business Writer
Shareholders of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe have approved the de-merger and independent listing of its Technology and Fintech business Cassava Smartech.At an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held at the company’s head office in Harare yesterday, Econet shareholders unanimously voted for the resolution to de-merge and subsequently list Cassava Smartech as a separate company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
The listing of CSZL will be the largest initial listing on the ZSE, and will probably be the largest initial listing in the history of the local exchange.
The group’s equity amounts to $121,907 million and generated revenue of $257,752 million as at February 28, 2018 with $70,699 million of that going to the bottom line.
As at the date of this Pre-listing Statement, EcoCash (Pvt) Limited, Econet Insurance (Pvt) Limited, Econet Life (Pvt) Limited and Steward Bank Limited are the major subsidiaries of CSZL 83,89 percent of the volume of the national payments system goes through the Econet platform.
The banking unit Steward Bank has over 500 000 conventional customer accounts, while EcoSure is said to have the largest funeral product in the market, in terms of policy holders.
Shareholders also voted to authorise and empower the company’s directors to effect and operationalise the de-merger and the listing of the CSZL, which is scheduled for December 11, 2018.
The shareholder approval was seen as the last hurdle in the process leading up to the new technology company’s listing. It followed a series of initiatives by the company which included the publication of a detailed circular to shareholders on the planned de-merger, the obtaining of regulatory approvals and a number of investor engagement road shows by the company’s senior management.
Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution to spin off Cassava and list it separately on the ZSE, with 90 percent of the votes in favour of the de-merger transaction.
The EGM, however, deferred voting on a resolution to convert debentures (issued at a rights offer last year) into ordinary shares.
This is intended to return value to those shareholders who provided US dollars offshore to the company to allow the company to pay off its offshore debts.
This proposal, which will be voted on by shareholders at a meeting to be held on December 14, 2018, is seen as a measure to protect shareholder value in the face of inflation that has eroded monetary values.
Dr Jim Myers, the EWZL board chairman said the directors had reflected on the views of various shareholders and elected to adjourn the EGM to December 14, 2018, to allow some shareholders that had requested more time to understand the transaction and to explain it to their clients.
Earlier in the day, an AGM that was held at the same premises at the company’s head office, saw all resolutions passed by unanimous vote.
