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Oando has obtained a court order halting the suspension of trading in its shares and a forensic audit planned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), court documents seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
Shares in Oando Plc were frozen at N5.99 on Monday until further notice, the stock exchange said after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered a forensic audit into the company.
The SEC suspended trading in the stock for 48 hours last week, saying it was investigating complaints about insider trading and discrepancies in its ownership structure.
“The actions taken by the SEC, the suspension of the shares of the company and the initiation of a forensic audit, are prejudicial to the company,” an Oando spokesman told Reuters.
The SEC declined to comment on the court order, saying that it was yet to receive the notice.
Trading on the floor of the company yesterday showed that, only 42,923 shares at the firm’s fixed share price of N5.99 was traded. The company recorded no trades on Monday. A regulatory source said the freeze aimed to avoid volatile trading pending the outcome of the audit.
In a SEC letter dated Oct. 17 to Oando and seen by Reuters, the regulator accused Oando of corporate governance abuses and financial mismanagement, basing its allegations on two petitions received from Dahiru Barau Mangal and Ansbury Incorporated.
It added that it would engage accountancy firm Deloitte to lead the audit together with lawyers and stockbrokers, at a cost of 160 million naira, which would be borne by Oando.
A company source has said the petitions centred around the ownership of some Oando shares bought through an investment vehicle at the time the company bought the Nigerian unit of U.S. firm ConocoPhillips for $1.65 billion in 2014.
Oando has said it was aware the regulator had received petitions and said the allegations were “unsubstantiated, misleading and defamatory”.
However, it had not received any notification from the regulator querying its compliance until the recent letter, adding that it has been cooperating with the SEC since the start of its investigation in May.
In July, Oando shares fell close to a one-month low after the regulator said it was investigating the firm’s shareholding structure following the ConocoPhillips unit acquisition.
Trading in Oando’s shares have also been suspended in Johannesburg, where it has a secondary listing.
Oando has gained 27 percent this year after a sharp fall last year. It last traded at N5.99.
