Hundreds of Kenyan investors who bought shares of UK company Atlas African Industries
have lost all means of tracking performance of the firm after collapse
of its website, the only means left for communicating with shareholders.
Atlas
African Industries, whose shares are suspending from trading both at
the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange, had
maintained the website as the only link with shareholders following its
controversial exit from Kenya in an apparent shift of operations to
Ethiopia.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which is
mandated by law to protect interests of investors who put their money
in public listed companies, Tuesday said it would investigate the
company over the information blackout.
“That is
something we will be engaging the company on,” said CMA chief executive
Paul Muthaura. The Business Daily could not immediately confirm the
number of Kenyan investors still holding Atlas’ shares.
Through
its nominated advisors in Kenya, Burbidge Capital, Atlas yesterday
attributed the website’s collapse to a “technical issue.” “We have
informed them (Atlas) and they are fixing that. It is just an issue with
the domain and we will let you know as soon as they are back on,” said
an official at Burbidge Capital in a telephone interview. The website,
www.atlassupport.com, remained down by the time of going to press.
Burbidge Capital, which acts as a key link to the company, did not give timelines for when the site would be back up.
The
loss-making Atlas, which offered support services in the oil and gas
industry, had a troubled short history since listing on the NSE in
December 2014.
The firm shut down its Kenyan operations in 2015 to apparently
focus on growing its Ethiopian business. The Ethiopian business ran into
regulatory problems shortly thereafter.
On May 8 last
year the company was suspended from trading at the NSE’s Growth
Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) where it had been listed for a period
of 90 days, making its stock illiquid for existing and prospective
shareholders.
NSE
chief executive officer Geoffrey Odundo attributed the suspension to
the firm’s unresolved issues at the London Stock Exchange where it was
suspended on October 17 2016 following the resignation of its UK
nominated adviser Stifel Nicolaus.
Its Kenyan
nominated advisor Burbidge Capital had also at one point resigned from
their role but were requested to stay on by the regulator to help steer
the company’s affairs towards a resolution.
ALSO READ: Troubled Atlas cancels London bourse listing
The
May 8 suspension of the troubled company from the Nairobi bourse rocked
remaining hopes of existing shareholders that Atlas would resume
trading.
“As far as I am aware existing shareholders
have already been diluted practically to nothing. Therefore, this
suspension is a ‘last rites’ scenario, in my opinion,” said investment
analyst and Rich Management CEO Aly-Khan Satchu at the time.
Atlas’
entry into Ethiopia through the acquisition of TEAP Glass turned
problematic after the subsidiary was embroiled in a tax dispute.
Mr
Odundo said last May the NSE had continually engaged the company with
aim to resolve the issue of non-compliance “in the best interests of its
shareholders” to no avail.
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