DRDGOLD Ltd (NYSE:DRD) announced Tuesday that it will voluntarily terminate its listing on the Euronext exchange, starting Wednesday, to be in compliance with European regulations.
But The South African gold producer, which is one of the oldest continuously listed South African miners on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), will keep its primary listing as well as its secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange via American Depositary Receipts. The trading of the company’s securities via the regulated unofficial market on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Berlin and Stuttgart over-the-counter markets will also stay the same.
DRDGold’s move to voluntarily end its Euronext listing stems from rule changes, which kicked off last year, when Euronext decided to close its link with the South African securities market via its French central securities depositary, Euroclear.
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“In the circumstances, trading of DRDGOLD’s securities on the Euronext was no longer possible and Euroclear subsequently undertook a process to transfer the DRDGOLD securities held by French shareholders to a South African central securities depositary, such that the DRDGOLD securities remained tradable on the JSE,” DRDGOLD explained in a statement.
Historically, the liquidity of DRDGOLD shares traded on the Euronext has been modest. The total volume of DRDGOLD shares traded on this exchange between June 2016 and June 2018 came to less than 0.2% of the total number of DRDGOLD securities in issue.
“In light of the above and the fact that the DRDGOLD securities are no longer tradable on the Euronext, a decision was made to apply for the termination on said exchange,” the company added.
DRDGOLD’s ADR shares rose slightly to US$2.75 in afternoon trade.