Sagarmatha Technologies will no longer list on the JSE after the Johannesburg bourse pulled the plug on the public debut. The company, whose assets include stakes in Independent Media and online retailer Loot, said after the market closed on Wednesday that it could no longer proceed with the listing.
The company blasted its rivals in the media for press coverage that contributed to the doomed listing.
“The listing date of 13 April would have seen the company become the first ‘unicorn’ to list on an African bourse,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. It said it received notice from the JSE on Tuesday that it had withdrawn its approval of the listing.
“The reason cited by the JSE was non-compliance with section 33 of the Companies Act, which requires the submission of financial statements to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC),” it said.
“On 11 April, the company received written confirmation from the CIPC indicating that Sagarmatha Technologies was, indeed, compliant and had provided the required financial statements.
“The JSE now cites a technical point, which has prevented Sagarmatha Technologies from listing on 13 April. The technicality suggests that Sagarmatha Technologies was non-compliant on the date that the pre-listing statement was approved — 28 March 2018. The CIPC has confirmed otherwise, stating that at no stage was Sagarmatha Technologies not compliant.”
The company claimed it had received “indicative commitments” for the listing exceeding R4bn, “comfortably meeting the minimum listing requirements of the JSE”.
“However, due to the JSE withdrawal of the listing notice, Sagarmatha Technologies is legally bound not to accept these applications from its committed investors,” it said.
It added that the JSE has asked it to make provision for a fresh listing application. It would now consider listings in New York and Hong Kong.
Sagarmatha in part blamed media rivals for the aborted listing. It claimed they fuelled a “large-scale disinformation campaign” against it. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media