Janus Henderson to delist from ASX
Asset manager Janus Henderson has submitted a request to delist from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
This is expected to occur on 6 December, subject to meeting certain conditions, and means Janus Henderson will now be solely listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The decision has been taken, the firm said, as the proportion of issued capital held via CHESS depositary interests has declined significantly over time, down from 44 per cent in January 2018 to 5.5 per cent.
“The board of directors of the company are of the view that the benefits to the company’s shareholders of maintaining the ASX listing no longer outweigh the financial, administrative and compliance obligations and costs, and that maintaining the ASX listing is no longer in the best interest of the company or the company shareholders,” the firm’s statement read.
Shares in Janus Henderson are up by 5 per cent over the year to 2 November compared to losses of 2 per cent by the ASX 200.
Shareholders will have the option to either sell before the delisting occurs, participate in the voluntary sale facility or become a holder of the shares on the NYSE.
The voluntary sale facility will be open for 60 days from 13 December.
The firm has been listed on the ASX since June 2017 under Janus Henderson following the merger of Henderson Global Investors with American firm Janus Capital, but Henderson Global Investors was first listed in 2008.
It opted to remain listed on the ASX as well as the NYSE after the merger as Henderson Group has Australian roots, having been owned by AMP in 1998 which prompted its name change to Henderson Global Investors.
The firm later demerged from AMP in 2003, and it sold its final stake in 2005.
Commenting on the move, AMP’s Shane Oliver said: “It was probably only listed here because of the history with Henderson coming out of AMP and lots of Australian shareholders, but I suspect the proportion of Australian shareholders in Janus Henderson now is very low and it costs money to maintain listings in several countries so they are just rationalising.
“I think they will still want to maintain and grow their Australian client base for their products so it shouldn’t affect that.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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