Centurion going public in October

Maldivian shipping and logistics company, Centurion has announced that it will be going public in coming October – which will make it the first privately-owned company to get listed and start selling shares to the public.

Centurion is a company which provides a number of logistical solutions; logistics management, ship ownership and management, warehousing and distribution, private management, and shipping.

Centurion will be selling 49 percent of its shares – which amounts to MVR 6,757,800 - to the public at the rate of MVR 25 per share.

It will be selling its shares from October 20 to December 13.

Speaking during a press conference held at Champa Central Hotel this Thursday morning, Chairman of Centurion plc, Captain Ahmed Maumoon said that the company was a profitable company developing at a fast pace.

“But the company can be developed at a much faster pace. It is our hope that money from the public will propel the company towards further development,” said Captain Maumoon.

Maumoon noted that shipping and logistics required a lot of assets.

“But the money is hard to come by. We have to buy a lot of cash every time we need to buy a ship. It will be a great help for us to develop the services we provide if we can do this with the involvement of the public,” he said.

The biggest motivation behind Centurion going public is facilitating expansion of its fleet as well as services.

The company says that the money from sale of its shares would be used to acquire 10 ships, one tugboat, one barge, two landing crafts and one cargo boat, and build warehouses.

The largest percentage of shares of Centurion owned by any one individual at the moment is 27 percent. This means that when the company goes public, the majority share of the company will be controlled by the public.

Maumoon said that he believed development of the company was far more important than control over it by any one person – and that ensuring that the company was independent and professional was the way to do it.

“If it remains a private company, we could do as we please. But there’s a huge difference when it’s made a company accountable to the people,” he said.

Maumoon said that Centurion’s Board of Directors would have three independent directors capable of the job, and two directors from among public shareholder – who will also be screened based on educational qualification and experience.

Centurion’s Board of Directors currently consist of seven directors; Managing Director Aiman Jaleel, Mursalaa Mohamed, Juwariya Saeed, Abdulla Hassan, Ahmed Mansoor and Shiva Mandhar.