ADB still pursuing listing agenda
Plans by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) is progressing steadily as management of the bank are currently in dicussions with the two stakeholders on the timelines and the number of shares to be floated.
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A source at the bank, who disclosed this to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS, added that “the negotiations could end soon and the results made public.”
“I can tell you that we are still in discussions with government on the listing and the talks have been postive so far,” the source added.
The source was speaking to the paper on the status of the bank’s intentions to go public as announced in 2012.
ADB, which specialises in agriculture sector financing, announced last year that it would launch an initial public offer (IPO) on the GSE to help raise additional capital to support its operations.
The IPO was also to make ADB, one of the numeorus state-owned enterprises, available to the general public, its Managing Director, Mr Stephen Kpordzih, said at the time.
The psuh to list ADB was at the instance of the BoG, which holds about 48 per cent stake, and was expected to be launched in 2012.
The planned launch, however, failed to materialise with many capital market analysts attributing the delay to some uneasiness on the part of government, the 52 per cent shareholder, to allow its co-shareholder, the BoG, to float its stake.
Last year’s general elections also contributed as it created some political uncertainty around the transaction.
These notwithstanding, the Managing Director of the GSE, Mr Kofi Yamoah, said in a separate interview that his outfit was optimistic ADB would come to the market, given that they were eager to be listed.
“They definitely have the desire but they have to get the approval from their shareholders first; that is key,” Mr Yamoah, who said his outfit spoke to ADB on the matter in April this year, added.
The Director-General (DG) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Adu Anane Antwi, expressed similar sentiments in a separate interview.
While disclosing that SEC was yet to formally hear from the bank after its intentions of going public were made known last year, Mr Antwi said he was hopeful ADB would soon get the approval from its shareholders to enable it to come to the market.
“We always want companies, be them state-owned or private, to go public by listing on the GSE. So, if ADB wants to list, then we hope they do that really fast,” Mr Anane said.
A successful listing of ADB on the Accra bourse would bring to three the number of previously state-owned financial institutions that have been privatised on the bourse.
The GCB Bank Limited and SIC Financial Services, both previous SOEs, were listed on the GSE.
By Maxwell Adombila Akalaare / Graphic Business / Ghana