Jongleurs firm to pull out of stock market
Regent Inns shares plunge again
Share in struggling Jongleurs owner Regent Inns have plunged again after the company announced plans to pull out of the stock market.The entire company – which also owns Walkabout and Old Orleans – is now worth just £1.4million and wants to ‘delist’ from the stock exchange to save money.
It believes the move could save it £200,000 a year in admin and legal costs – as well as allowing it to restructure away from the public spotlight.
Jim Glover, the company’s non-executive chairman, said: ‘The private company arena is now the most practical one for Regent and will provide a more suitable environment in which to manage the company.
‘After much consideration, the board now regards the delisting to be in the best interests of the shareholders of Regent as a whole. It is recommending this course of action to shareholders accordingly.’
Regent also revealed that trading had ‘not materially changed’ since its last financial report, with like-for-like sales down 11.4 per cent in the period from 28 December.
If the move is agreed by at least three-quarters of shareholders, Regent will be taken off the stock market in June, meaning people will no longer be able to buy or sell shares in the company in a public market.
The share price fell more than a third on announcement of the news, to just 1.25p. Less than two years ago, it stood at 117p.
Published: 28 Apr 2009
