Forum Topics Selling shares which have been delisted
takezo
Added 5 years ago

Thanks so much Bear77 - not just for your help with this, but for all your contributions to the site.

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takezo
Added 5 years ago

Just wondering if there is a problem with selling shares that have been delisted? I've tried several times to sell some shares in DWS which I hold at the final listed price. The trade seems to sit in pending for a while and then I come back a week later and it seems like it hasn't gone through.

This has happened a few times now.

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Strawman
Added 5 years ago

Hi Takezo, according to delisted.com DWS was acquired by HCL Australia services at the start of the year.

https://www.delisted.com.au/company/dws-limited/

As such, you won't be able to sell your shares on the ASX. In fact, you should have received some correspondence that explains what you got (either shares in HCL, or cash, or a mix). Not familiar with the deal sorry.

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Bear77
Added 5 years ago

https://www.hcltech.com/newsfeed/hcl-technologies-announces-close-of-acquisition-of-dws-limited

https://www.hcltech.com/press-releases/press-releases-business/hcl-technologies-announces-intent-acquire-leading-australian

https://www.crn.com.au/news/aussie-it-outsourcing-firm-dws-acquired-by-hcl-technologies-553608

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/hcl-technologies-completes-acquisition-of-australian-it-solutions-firm-dws-6304441.html

https://www.afr.com/technology/hcl-technologies-to-acquire-australian-it-solutions-company-dws-limited-20200921-p55xmq

Looks like you should have received A$1.20 (AFR) or A$1.23 (other sources, but includes 3 cps dividend) per share in cash for your DWS shares in December or January@takezo.

It would have been paid into the same account that you used to receive your DWS dividends, or else a cheque would have been posted to the address that the DWS share registry had on file for you.  The registry that DWS used was BoardRoom.

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Bear77
Added 5 years ago

As a general rule, you can not sell shares that have been delisted from the ASX.  You certainly can not sell them on the ASX.  There are rare occasions where the shares might become listed elsewhere (like on the NSX for example) or there may be offers made off-market to buy delisted shares, but not often.  When a company is fully taken over by another company, as in this case (HCL taking over DWS), then the acquiring company (HCL Technologies in this case) own ALL of the shares, and you no longer own any shares.  However, they paid for those shares, one way or another, so you need to find out where that money - or that cheque - went. 

There are occasions where a company will issue you with shares instead of cash, or a combination of shares and cash, but that does NOT usually happen when the acquiring company is listed overseas, such as in this case (HCL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange [BSE] in Mumbai, India, under the code 532281 and on the National Stock Exchange of India [NSE] under the code HCLTECH), because most people would object to having ASX-listed shares exchanged for shares listed on an overseas exchange, and there are regulatory issues also if that was to occur, particularly when the acquirer is a US-listed company (HCL are not US-listed).  So, generally, when an overseas-listed company acquires an ASX-listed company, the consideration is almost always cash, in Australian dollars.  Hope that helps.

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takezo
Added 5 years ago

Hey all....thanks for the replies. I think I may have been a little unclear.

I'm referring to my portfolio on Strawman. I can't seem to be able to sell and convert to cash so I can now buy something else.

I wish I had been as prudent in real life as I was with this particular purchase on strawman!

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Bear77
Added 5 years ago

Ah - different problem entirely @takezo.  You can not sell those shares because they have been delisted.  What needs to happen is that Strawman.com Administration (Admin) has to do a manual adjustment, which would be:

  1. Your current sell order needs to be cancelled, then
  2. Effective Date: 05-Jan-2021 DWS - Sell (takeover by HCL) - 15844 DWS @ $1.20 each

That's it - the proceeds ($19,012.80) will be added to your cash balance.

This is based on the following announcement:  05-Jan-2021: DWS: Implementation of Scheme of Arrangement

I've sent a copy of this advice to [email protected] so it should be actioned shortly, within the next day or two.

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Bear77
Added 5 years ago

Looks like Andrew and his team have fixed that up for you now @Takezo, as you no longer hold DWS, and have become the proud owner of a bunch of Appen (APX) shares at yesterday's closing price, plus some change.  Remember that for the quickest response to any site issues, just email:  [email protected], as I did with your issue.  It works.

Most of these issues aren't actually bugs in the site - they are usually caused by either limitations with the data provided to the site by the data provider (which is currently S&P) or else failures by the data provider to provide relevant data at the times that they should.  When that happens, often Andrew and his team may be unaware that there is a problem until somebody notifies them of the issue.  Once notified, they can fix it, often by way of a manual adjustment, which is what is usually nescessary when there is a takeover of an ASX-listed company and the company is then delisted - as in this case.

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