Acacia to delist from the Dar es Salaam stock exchange today

Dar es Salaam. The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) Plc will officially delist Acacia Mining today, two months after the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

“Acacia Mining PLC has been delisted from the Primary Listing Exchange at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) since 18th September 2019. The DSE will officially delist Acacia on Monday 18th November, 2019,” the DSE says in a statement posted on its website.

The delisting will cut the DSE’s total market capitalisation by Sh2.727 trillion. The bourse will remain with a total market capitalisation of Sh16.943 trillion starting today, down from Sh19.67 trillion that was registered during the close of trading last Friday.

However, domestic market capitalisation will remain unchanged at Sh9.011 trillion.

“This simply marks the end of our engagement with Acacia Mining. The company has formerly communicated to us and we are delisting it as required,” DSE Plc chief executive Moremi Marwa told The Citizen yesterday.

The delisting of Acacia’s shares at the LSEG and subsequently the DSE, follows the September 17, 2019 announcement whereby Acacia Mining officially notified its shareholders that it had been acquired by Barrick Gold Corporation.

Barrick Gold announced on September 13, 2019 that it had officially acquired shares it did not own at its subsidiary company Acacia in a court-sanctioned arrangement.

Before the takeover, Barrick Gold owned 63.9 per cent of Acacia Mining Plc – formally operating as African Barrick Gold Plc.

The corporation’s president and chief executive, Mr Mark Bristow, said in a statement on September 13 that the firm was determined to acquire all the remaining Acacia Mining shares from the minority shareholders as a show of confidence in the potential of the operating assets of Acacia, the geology of the country (Tanzania), the country itself and its people.

The announcements were then followed by the delisting of Acacia from the LSEG.

In line with the acquisition, the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) announced that it was scrutinising Barrick’s takeover of 16 mining and mineral exploration firms that were previously owned by Acacia Mining.

The firms include ABG Exploration, Barisun Exploration, Bulyanhulu (Holdings) Pty Limited, IDG Kitongo, Vulcan Resources, DG Aurum Tanzania Limited and Kasubuya Exploration Company Limited.

The list also includes Pangea Minerals Limited, Prime Gold Exploration Limited, Sub-Sahara Resources (Tanzania) Limited, IDG Aurum Holdings, North Mara Gold Mine, Matinje Exploration Limited, Aptian Resources and Bulyanhulu Gold Mine and Itobo Exploration Limited.

According to Mr Marwa, it was just an oversight that while engaging with the LSEG, Acacia did not do the same with the DSE where its shares had been cross-listed.

This is only the second time in the DSE’s 23-year history that a company has been delisted from the bourse.

In 2011 the DSE delisted Nicol for the latter’s failure to submit financial results for 2009 and 2010 and for selling a stake in a local firm irregularly.

However, Nicol was re-listed on June 7, 2018 after it met the requirements. The company is currently doing well and its shareholders are receiving dividends.