Olam International's public float drops below 10%

Olam International Limited said after trading hours on Friday that as a result of the issuance of new shares, the percentage of its shares held in public hands has fallen below 10 per cent to approximately 9.31 per cent.

Under the rules of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), this means trading in Olam's shares might be suspended.

In an earlier announcement on Friday, Olam issued 91.3 million new shares following the exercise of an aggregate of 91.3 million warrants at the price of US$1.09 each.

There is an aggregate of about 59.2 million outstanding warrants which remain exercisable up to 5pm on 29 January.

In a SGX filing, Olam said that assuming all of the outstanding warrants are validly exercised and the number of shares held by members of the public otherwise remains constant, this will cause the percentage of shares held in public hands to increase back to above 10 per cent before or around the relevant date.

The group said it is in talks with SGX and that it will provide an update as appropriate regarding the public float.

Olam's counter closed at S$2.19 on Friday.