The 20 per cent free float requirement of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited for listed companies on its platform has been finally met by Champion Breweries Plc ahead of the October 2026 deadline.
The exchange requires publicly-quoted firms on its platform to have at least 20 per cent of their stocks available to members of the public for market liquidity.
Before now, the brewery company fell short of this, forcing Customs Street to add the suffix, BLS, to the organisation.
BLS means Below Listing Standard. It informs investors that stocks with this status have not met the 20 per cent free-float requirement.
However, after increasing the free float above 20 per cent after the recently concluded public offer and rights issue, the NGX Regulation (NGX RegCo) Limited, the regulatory arm of NGX Group Plc, has removed the BLS status indicator previously displayed beside the company’s name across the NGX platforms.
The completed capital raises, successfully approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are currently in the final stages of the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) account crediting.
All applicants under the rights issue have now been credited with their new shares, while crediting for applicants under the public offer is ongoing.
This milestone transaction, having achieved the primary objective of the acquisition of the Bullet portfolio, has achieved the additional benefit of achieving full compliance with the bourse’s liquidity and free float requirements.
The board and management of Champion Breweries thanked the investing community for their continued support of the organisation’s long-term vision and extended special appreciation to NGX RegCo for its guidance as the firm works with the registrars and the CSCS to complete the share crediting process.