The Unit Trust of Fiji (UTOF) has confirmed it was the purchaser in a recent divestment involving over three million Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH) shares on the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPX).
“The shares were acquired from our Samoan counterpart, Unit Trust of Samoa (UTOS), through an ATH shares to UTOF units swap arrangement, ensuring no foreign cash outflow was required to finalize the transaction,” UTOF stated.
“This strategic reduction of ATH ownership highlights UTOF’s efforts in portfolio diversification. Despite this transaction, UTOS remains a significant shareholder of ATH, demonstrating its continued commitment to the regional telecom giant.”
On June 24, over three million shares in ATH were traded on SPX, marking the first significant amount transacted in a day since the group listed in 2002, except for a rights issue in 2020 and a partial Fiji Government divestment through a special crossing in 2015.
UTOF revealed that the shares were swapped at $2.20 each, resulting in a total transaction value of $7.685 million.
According to ATH’s 2023 annual report, its top 10 shareholders are: Fiji National Provident Fund (347.9 million shares), Republic of Fiji Islands (72.9 million), Unit Trust Of Fiji (Trustee Company) Limited (19.3 million), Unit Trust Of Samoa (6.9 million), iTaukei Trust Fund Board (6.5 million), Amalgamated Telecom Nominees Limited (4.7 million), Tonga Retirement Fund Board (4 million), FHL Trustees Limited Atf Fijian Holdings Unit Trust (3.2 million), BSP Life (Fiji) Ltd (2.17 million), and FHL Media Ltd (2.09 million).
Last month’s divestment by Unit Trust of Samoa reduces its shareholding in ATH to 3,464,355 shares and increases Unit Trust of Fiji’s total shares in ATH to 22,855,979 shares, representing 4.78 percent of total ATH shares.