Attempts to get Kosmos Energy’s shares publicly traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange have not been abandoned, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials have assured.
The Director-General of SEC, Adu Anane-Antwi, in an interview with the B&FT in Accra last week expressed hope that the Jubilee oil partner will soon finalise processes to list on the local bourse, although it is uncertain when that will be completed.
“Kosmos will really list — only that the time is uncertain. The company has approached us and they have also contracted some brokers to work on their prospectus. And if the prospectus comes to us, it will take us about six weeks to approve it.
“They are still working on it. But once they have not brought us a prospectus, I cannot say when that (listing) can be done.
“Once the prospectus lands our desk, then we know that within the six weeks we can approve it for the company to go to the market,” he said.
The final listing of Kosmos Energy shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange will bring to two the number of upstream petroleum firms listed on the local bourse since crude oil in commercial quantities was discovered offshore Ghana five years ago.
Last year, the US Texas-based oil company was widely tipped to float its shares valued at about US$50 million — far below the value of Tullow shares — on the Ghana Stock Exchange. But that did not materialise.
Earlier this year, some law firms in the US filed a class-action suit against Kosmos Energy for violating US Federal Securities Laws by issuing false and misleading information concerning the company’s overall operational and financial condition and well-being, resulting from significant problems in the company’s oil wells in its Jubilee oil field project in Ghana.
These developments were said to have stalled Kosmos’ plans to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Mr. Anane-Antwi said despite the suit, the company has not relented on its moves to list on the local bourse.
“We have had meetings with them and areas that are within our power, we have worked on them. We are just awaiting their offer-documents to work with,” he added.
Kosmos raised US$600million from its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in May last year.
It is expected that the eventual listing of Kosmos shares will offer Ghanaians the opportunity to invest in the assets of one of the emerging oil production companies across the continent.
By Evans Boah-Mensah
