Walton’s sponsor director to offload 25,000 shares
Free float, also known as public float, refers to the shares of a company that can be publicly traded without prior declaration.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd's sponsor director SM Ashraful Alam has announced to sell 25,000 of the company's shares in the secondary market to increase free float shares as per the directives from the securities regulator.
Free float, also known as public float, refers to the shares of a company that can be publicly traded without prior declaration.
According to the company's disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website on Thursday, Alam will sell the shares at prevailing market price in the block market through DSE within 30 working days.
Currently, Walton's free float shares at the DSE are 1% of its total shares. SM Ashraful Alam currently holds 65,881,643 shares of the company.
Last year, Alam sold two lakh shares, and one lakh in January this year.
In May 2023, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) gave Walton's sponsors and directors three years to ensure that at least 10% of its shares are free float.
The BSEC, on 12 September 2021, ordered Walton Hi-Tech Industries, Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd, and the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to ensure a minimum of 10% free-float shares within a year through offloading shares held by sponsors.
On Thursday, Walton's shares closed at Tk1,047.7 each at the DSE.
In 2020, Walton raised Tk100 crore by issuing only 0.97% shares.
It had paid a 250% cash dividend for its general shareholders and a 150% cash for sponsor shareholders for the 2021-22 financial year.