TWO listed equities traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) have merged, reducing to 41 the total number of listed firms on the bourse.
The equities listed by pharmaceutical firms Ayrton Drugs Manufacturing Company and Starwin Products Limited earlier this week finalized a merger deal with another pharmaceutical company, Dannex Limited.
The new merged entity – called DAS Pharma Plc. – now trades as DAS Pharma on the GSE.
At the official listing of the new entity on the GSE, Chairman of DAS Pharma, Nik Amarteifio, said the move to list on the Accra bourse was to send a signal to companies to look beyond always borrowing to expand to offloading stakes to prospective investors through stock listing.
“We are sending a signal to the Ghana Stock Exchange and people who have companies that if they want to grow, apart from debt which they borrow money to do so, they can also have people coming in with equity to support them to go forward,” Mr Amarteifio said.
Ayton Drugs Manufacturing Company Ltd. was established on September 24, 1965 and was listed on the GSE on August 14, 2006.
Starwin Products Limited was also established in 1960 and became the first pharmaceutical company to list on the GSE on December 29, 2004.
In 2014, Dannex Ghana Ltd. acquired a majority shares in Starwin Products (71.33 per cent) and in Ayrton Drugs (53.47 per cent)
At the time of the acquisition, Dannex Ghana said it wanted to create synergies and scale to be able to compete effectively and profitably in Ghana and West Africa.
At the beginning of trading on the GSE yesterday, a share of DAS Pharma traded at GH¢0.40.
Source: Raju J. R. PARWANI, thefinderonline.com
