Verimark shareholders approve delisting
Shares close higher after plan to take the direct retailer private gets the nod at meeting
Verimark shareholders on Thursday approved a plan to take the direct retailer private, sending the stock to its best close in nearly eight years. At a shareholder meeting on Thursday, 93.9% of investors present said they were in favour of a delisting. Just 43.3% of eligible shares were voted on. The company’s shares, which are expected to be delisted from the JSE on February 19, closed 5.8% higher at R1.45 — the best level since September 2011. The stock has climbed 59% since the retailer’s founder, Michael van Straaten, announced a plan in October 2018 to buy out minority investors for R1.50 a share and delist the company. The Van Straaten family later told shareholders they had not derived the benefits of being invested in a listed company in part because of the group’s volatile earnings. Being dependent on imports, the company is at the mercy of exchange rate fluctuations. The share had also underperformed since listing in 2005 at R2.50, the family said in a circular to sharehold...
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