Africa Capital Alliance’s CAPE IV which holds the largest shareholding in Aradel Holdings has sold off about 0.57% of the group’s stock, amounting to a N19.8 billion shares sale.
The transaction which took place on October 14, 15, and 16 saw CAPE IV sell off about 24.717 million Aradel shares at an average volume price of N802.99. With this sale, ACA’s stake in Aradel has dropped to 15.92 per cent from the earlier 16.49 per cent.
The fund remains the largest shareholder in the group however, it is yet unknown whether the private equity fund will exit or still remain in Aradel. According to the corporate disclosure on the NGX website, the sale of the share was to “provide liquidity for the listing of Aradel shares on the NGX.”
Before listing on the NGX, Aradel had over 1,800 shareholders with a free float of 64.32 per cent, while the majority shareholders controlled 35.68 per cent of the company.
The sell-off of shares by ACA CAPE IV played a key role in the decline of Aradel’s stock price, which dropped by 11 per cent to N625.40 from its initial listing price of N702.69. Although Aradel’s share price surged to N820 within the first two days of listing, between October 15 and October 18, the stock experienced a steady decline, shedding approximately 24 per cent of its value to close the week at N625.40.