Ninety One float goes ahead despite turmoil
Dealing has begun today in shares of Ninety One plc and Ninety One Limited, the new name for Investec Asset Management following its float in London and Johannesburg.
Dealing follows the demerger of Ninety One from the Investec Group which took effect on Friday.
Ninety One plc’s issued ordinary share capital consists of 622,624,622 Ninety One plc Shares under the ticker name on the LSE of ‘N91’ and on the JSE of ‘Ninety 1P’, Alpha code ‘N91’.
Late last week the company partially cancelled some of the float when it dropped the global offer of 10% of its shares.
However despite the stock market turmoil the company decided to go ahead with its demerger and float although Investec will remain a major shareholder in Ninety One, with approximately a 25% shareholding.
Ninety One plc and Ninety One Limited, the new names for Investec Asset Management, are floating with an estimated stock market valuation of between £1.7bn and £2.2bn although recent stock market volatility may have reduced this.
Hendrik du Toit, founder and chief executive, said: “Today marks a historic moment for Ninety One. Despite extraordinary market volatility we are confident in the resilience of our capital-light business model and its organically developed, specialist, active investment offerings. Ours is a long-term story of a unique business with a carefully-developed culture, a commitment to employee ownership and a long track record.
“I would like to thank all of the Ninety One people for their hard work and commitment to our clients and to our firm, and I look forward to continuing to deliver on our purpose of investing for a better tomorrow.”
Ninety One, Investec plc and Investec Investments Proprietary Limited will be subject to a 180 day share lock-up from today.
The company says that subject to certain conditions being met, the company will be eligible for inclusion in equity indices, including the FTSE UK Index Series.