11 PLC, formerly Mobil, to exit Nigerian Stock Exchange after 43 years

11 PLC, which until October 2016 was known as Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, hopes to delist its more than 360.592 million ordinary shares from the daily official list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by the end of the first quarter, in furtherance of a resolution passed at its last annual general meeting in October.

“The purpose of delisting is to enable the company explore strategic opportunities, alliances and collaborations that can bolster earnings and/or provide synergized benefits with little or no regulatory obligations,” the energy firm said in an explanatory statement issued Tuesday and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

Shareholders who do not consent to the exit proposal will be in the frame to sell their stakes at N213.90 per ordinary share, “being the highest price at which 11 Plc shares have traded, six (6) months preceding the notice of the AGM at which the resolution to delist was deliberated, as provided by the rules of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

11 Plc will still maintain its public liability company status after delisting, even though its shares will no longer be eligible for trade on the bourse.

For the exit plan to materialise, both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NSE have to give their approvals, after which dissenting shareholders will be settled and cease to be stockholders in the company.

“11 Plc shareholders will be able to elect to accept the Exit Consideration from February 1, 2021 to March 1, 2021,” the document said.

It added that the delisting would not affect the current employment contracts of staff and the composition of the board of directors.

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Socony Vacuum Oil Company, the precursor of 11 Plc, started marketing operations in Nigeria in 1907 through the sale of Sunflower Kerosene.

It transformed to a limited liability company in 1951, the same year it adopted the name Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited. In 1978, it was quoted on the NSE, assuming the identity: Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc.

NIPCO Investment Company’s purchase of 60 per cent interest belonging to ExxonMobil in 2016 set in motion a corporate transformation process leading to the new name 11 Plc (pronounced as double one Plc).

Shares in 11 Plc closed trade in Lagos on Tuesday at N228 per unit, recording no price movement.