Delisting of Companies

Delisting refers to the removal of a company’s shares from listing on the stock exchanges, either voluntarily or involuntarily. While being a listed company was considered a status symbol till the late-nineties, the new millennium saw a reversal of the trend. According to renowned sources, in 2002 alone, the total market capitalization of stocks in India that opted to delist from stock exchanges amounted to 9% of the market capitalization of the Nifty MNC index. Similarly, in the US, the number of companies that applied for delisting has increased ten fold from 50 in 1999 to more than 500 in 2003. Failure to adhere to listing norms led to many involuntary delistings, while others had opted for voluntary delisting as a prelude to going private. A number of reasons, both external and internal, have been attributed to companies’ decision to delist from the bourses. While, in India, a major reason for the delisting phenomenon has been attributed to regulatory relaxations, the reverse is true in the case of the US. In other words, tightening of regulations in the form of enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2001) had triggered a spate of delistings in the US. Other reasons cited for delistings included companies’ desire to avoid scrutiny of shareholders, regulators and potential investors, and also avoid payment of exorbitant compliance costs associated therewith. Irrespective of the reasons behind it, delisting of companies has several stark implications for the company as well as its shareholders. This book, explores the phenomenon called delisting and its implications. Though the topic is looked at from an international perspective, special emphasis has been placed on the situation in India.