Walton's sponsor director to offload 100,000 shares
SM Rezaul Alam, sponsor director of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd, has declared the sale of 100,000 shares of the company in the secondary market. This move aims to augment free float shares per directives from the securities regulator.
Free float, also known as public float, refers to the shares of a company that can be publicly traded without prior declaration.
According to the company's disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website on Thursday, SM Rezaul Alam will sell the shares at the prevailing market price in the block market through DSE within 30 working days.
On Thursday, Walton's shares closed at Tk824.40 each at the DSE.
Currently, Walton's free float shares at the DSE are 1% of its total shares. SM Rezaul Alam currently holds 39,000,000 shares of the company.
In May last year, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) gave Walton's sponsors and directors three years to ensure that at least 10% of its shares are free float.
The BSEC, on 12 September 2021, ordered Walton Hi-Tech Industries, Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd, and the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to ensure a minimum of 10% free-float shares within a year through offloading shares held by sponsors.
In 2020, Walton raised Tk100 crore by issuing only 0.97% shares.
It had paid a 300% cash dividend for its general shareholders and a 90% cash for sponsor shareholders for the 2022-23 financial year.