Shares in Fusionex International PLC (LON:FXI) fell once again this morning after the ‘big data’ analytics specialist announced that its nomad and broker has resigned.
Stifel’s resignation will take effect from 5pm this evening and will result in the immediate suspension of Fusionex’s shares.
That means Fusionex shareholders who haven’t so far jumped ship before the company is taken private next Tuesday (27 June) only have a matter of hours to trade their shares.
Whirlwind cancellation
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Fusionex and its shareholders, after the Malaysia-based company unexpectedly announced its plans to de-list from AIM at the end of May.
The official line was that it felt undervalued by the market and that the costs of listing on AIM could be “better spent within the business”, although the decision didn’t go down well with all shareholders.
Standard Life came out and criticised the move, saying: “It feels like the company has been taken from us without our consent.”
The group’s broker, Peel Hunt, and PR adviser, Buchanan, both quit in protest at what The Telegraph described as a “backdoor attempt by [Fusionex’s] founder to seize control”.
Founder and chief executive Ivan Teh then held an EGM over in Malaysia which made it difficult for the majority of investors to vote on the issue.
Teh, backed by a couple of other big shareholders, received the necessary support for the motion to carry at last week’s meeting.
Shares will be suspended from tomorrow before they are cancelled altogether next week.
Shares were down 9.6% to 56.5p.