Secondary Listing Of The Richemont ‘A’ Shares In South Africa
Secondary Listing Of The Richemont ‘A’ Shares In South Africa. Compagnie Financière Richemont SA announces its intention to terminate its South African depository receipt programme and to list its ‘A’ shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (the ‘JSE’) as a secondary listing, in addition to their existing listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The Company maintains a South African depository receipt programme through its subsidiary Richemont Securities SA. The depository receipts are traded on the JSE and can be surrendered for ‘A’ shares in a ratio of 10 depository receipts for one ‘A’ share. The depository receipts were originally created and issued in order to facilitate South African investors’ exposure to the Company, in compliance with the exchange control requirements in place at the time.
A depository receipt programme is however no longer needed for this purpose, as Richemont’s ‘A’ shares can now be listed (as a secondary listing) on the JSE. The proposed termination of the depository receipt programme would provide greater flexibility for shareholders of the Company by facilitating cross-border trading in Richemont ‘A’ shares between investors on the JSE and the SIX Swiss Exchange. The simplified structure would also reduce administrative complexity for Richemont. Achievement of these goals requires the cancellation of the Company’s depository receipt programme.
If depository receipt holders approve the termination of the programme and Richemont obtains the other relevant regulatory approvals, depository receipt holders will receive one ‘A’ share in exchange for 10 depository receipts that they own, free of charge, with the ‘A’ shares being listed on the JSE as a secondary listing. The proposed termination of the depository receipts programme will also affect JSE-traded ‘A’ warrant receipts, which will also be terminated. Upon termination of the depository receipts programme, holders of ‘A’ warrant receipts will receive ‘A’ warrants, and those ‘A’ warrants will be listed on the JSE as a secondary listing. The conversion of the depository receipts will not lead to any interruption of trading in ‘A’ shares. For those investors who already hold ‘A’ shares, there will be no change to their position.
