New investor snaps up 13m Imara shares
Staff Writer | Wednesday April 15, 2015 18:00
In a statement announcing the unprecedented shares trading activity, Imara stated that between March, 27, 2015 and April, 1, 2015 there had been ‘abnormally high trading activity in the Imara counter.’
“A total of 12.9 million Imara shares have been traded representing 21.96 percent of the issued capital of Imara.
“In all instances, the purchaser of the securities has been FWA Financial Limited (FWA), a new Imara shareholder who is now deemed to be a “substantial shareholder”, in terms of the Botswana Companies Act,” reads the statement.
A total of 59 151 801 Imara shares are currently in issue, trading at a price of around P3 per share.
According to Imara, the majority of the stock traded since 27 March 2015 involved shares in which past or current directors of Imara have a direct or indirect beneficial interest.
In certain instances, the acquisition of shares by FWA represented a consolidation of existing investments in Imara, into a new investment holding company.
Among the companies that FWA acquired shares from include Etana Trust (5.9 million) shares) and Idlewild Investments Limited (1.3 million shares).
“Existing executive directors of Imara have either a direct or indirect beneficial interest in these entities. The shares acquired from Etana Trust and Idlewild Investments Limited were acquired for cash,” stated Imara. Last month Imara announced the retirement of Mark Tunmer as Group Chief Executive Officer, effective 24 March 2015.
Tom Gaffney, who had served as a non-executive director of the group, since November 2014, succeeded Tunmer.
The diversified Pan-African financial services, Imara Holding Limited, also recently disposed of one of its stock broking subsidiary for P100 million, as the company streamlined its business portfolio.
The company announced that it had entered into an agreement with MMI Strategic Investments Proprietary for the disposal of South African stockbroking division, Imara S.P. Reid (ISPR).
Registered in Botswana, Imara also has presence in several countries including Angola, South Africa and the UK, as well as associate offices in Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Namibia.
In Botswana, Imara provides a range of specialised financial products and services among them Asset management (institutional and private client), corporate finance and advisory services, stockbroking (Imara Capital Securities), trust and administration services.
On the back of an exceptional performance by the asset management division, Imara recorded its best performance since 2008 to register a P16 million profit in the financial year ended April 2014 from a P1.5 million loss in the previous period.
Total assets, which amounted to P344.22 million, reflected 36 percent increase over the prior year, largely attributable to stockbroking activities.