Some 53.75 % of Sampath Bank shareholders (through proxies) opposed the proposed rights issue of the bank, at its Extra-ordinary General Meeting on Wednesday – essentially because the share price has fallen.
New Bank Chairman Arthur Senanayake told The Sunday Times FT that the majority voted (through proxies) against the rights issue in which 17.2 million shares were to be offered at a ratio of 1-for-4 at Rs.100 each.
“As such the board suggested to the 78 shareholders present at the EGM not to go ahead with it,” he said. The Sampath Bank share is currently trading around the Rs 70 level. The rights was announced by the bank in a bid to expand its capital base (TIER I) and finance expansion plans. Earlier the Bank offered sizable stakes in the rights issue to two foreign shareholders - International Finance Corporation and ShoreCap. But both declined the offer.
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