Al Borg Laboratories, the Middle East’s largest medical testing group, announced that it finalized the voluntary delisting of its shares from the Egyptian Stock Exchange (“EGX”) and has become a private joint stock company.
In accordance with the rules and regulations of the EGX and the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (“EFSA”) governing voluntary de-listings, the company offered to buy all minority shareholders representing approximately 15 percent of shares outstanding at the highest traded price of LE 149.44 per share in the 30 days preceding the meeting of the company’s board of directors which called for the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company to convene and approve the delisting.
Minorities representing approximately 5.5 percent of shares outstanding responded to and participated in the offer at a total cost to Al Borg of approximately LE 33.5 million and financed by Company excess cash balances.
Post cancellation of the acquired shares, Abraaj’s shareholding in the Company, through its Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund (IGCF), would reach roughly 90 percent up from 76.9 percent at the time of initial acquisition in May 2008 and subsequent share buy-backs conducted in 2009 which lifted Abraaj’s stake to 84.9 percent.
While under no legal obligation to do so, the company will from time to time reach out to the remaining minority shareholders seeking to exit and provide them with a liquidity event in privately negotiated transactions.
Commenting on the delisting, Ahmed Badreldin, executive director at Abraaj Capital, the majority shareholder of Al Borg Laboratories through IGCF, said “The voluntary delisting constitutes another step in our strategy of increasing the ownership stake through Abraaj’s Fund from roughly 77 percent in 2008 to around 90 percent currently, while returning cash to public shareholders that tendered their shares in the share buybacks and delisting over the last 2 years.”
