Cambria Africa, a holding company with investments in Zimbabwe, has announced plans to delist its shares from London’s AIM market.
The company’s shares have been suspended from trading since March following its failure to release its financial results for the year ending August 2023 and for the six months ending February 2024.
The long-awaited financial results are expected to be published by the end of September, offering a brief window for trading to resume before the potential delisting.
After a review, Cambria’s board said it has “concluded that it should recommend to shareholders that a cancellation is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.”
Among its reasons, it cited reducing administrative and regulatory costs and its limited use of AIM. The company has not used its listing to raise capital or for acquisitions since 2018.
The board also said Cambria was trading at a discount before its suspension, with a share price of 0.225 pence as of the end of February, compared with an unaudited net asset value (NAV) of 0.77 pence.
For the delisting to proceed, it must receive approval from 75 per cent of shareholders at a general meeting expected to happen in mid-September. Cambria’s chief executive, who owns a majority stake, will not vote to avoid any conflict of interest.
If shareholders approve the delisting, it will take effect in mid-October. If they reject the plan, Cambria will be forced to secure a new Nominated Adviser to stay listed on AIM, or the shares will be suspended again and possibly delisted automatically.
In a filing with the London Stock Exchange today, Cambria also said it plans to return up to $5.4m (£4.1m) to shareholders, equating to about one cent per share. This payout will be made in two tranches.
The first tranche, totalling $3.1m (£2.3m), would be funded by the sale of Radar shares in mid-September. The second of $2.3m (£1.7m) would follow after the company has divested its real estate holding, Lonzim Holdings Limited.
However, the sale could take some time to complete, so the exact amount and timing of the distribution are uncertain.
Within Zimbabwe, the company’s assets are valued at approximately $2.67m (£2.1m), although Cambria said there “various degrees of certainty as to their realisable value”.
Outside Zimbabwe, Cambria holds $3.3m in cash and cash equivalents and property assets valued at $2.5m (£2m).