Globus ready to split

Greek owner Globus Maritime looks set for a move of its shares from London to New York after a reverse stock split was pushed through.

“All the special resolutions relating to the possible listing of the company’s shares on a US stock exchange” were approved by shareholders at Wednesday’s annual general meeting, the company announced on Thursday.

CEO George Karageorgiou.

“Were the company to achieve such a listing, it would seek to delist its shares from AIM as soon as reasonably practicable so as to avoid the unnecessary expense of maintaining dual listings.”

The one-for-four reverse stock split came into effect from Thursday having been agreed at the AGM, predictably sending the bulker owner’s shares through the roof with an intra-day gain of over 300%.

Explaining the rationale behind the split, chief executive George Karageorgiou wrote in Thursday’s announcement: “We believe that listing Globus on an exchange in the United States may result in our shares trading at a more favourable price relative to their net asset value than has recently been the case.

“This belief is based on the performance of share prices of comparable companies currently trading on US stock exchanges, which generally benefit from a larger universe of research analysts as well as a larger base of both institutional and individual investors.

“In addition, the board believes that the company would also be in a better position to raise funds for its future development.”

TradeWinds had reported earlier this month that a possible switch across the water could be on the cards by the end of the year if shareholders approved plans to abandon London’s secondary bourse.

At that stage Karageorgiou denied that a deal to switch exchanges was anywhere near a done deal. But he did admit that that the fourth quarter was a realistic target for a possible move should shareholders give it the nod, as happened on Wednesday. The CEO has already said there will not be a fresh IPO, however.

Globus had all-but signaled its intentions to seek a US listing with the appointment in early July of former Aries Maritime head Jeff Parry in a non-executive role. Parry is currently chairman of Connecticut-based Mystic Marine Advisors, a company which specialises in turnaround and emerging shipping firms.

Thursday’s reverse stock split follows a similar move from compatriot owner NewLead Holdings which pushed through a one-for-12 split on Tuesday. However, this move was to allow the Michael Zolotas-led shipowner to continue to comply with Nasdaq rules to prevent it being thrown off the bourse.

Printable version Newsletter sign up