Alta Exchange in talks to relist Income shares after Oct 17

This could bring relief to 16,000 retail shareholders after Govt blocks Allianz deal

- Angela Tan

Alta Exchange is in early discussions to explore the possibility of relisting Income Insurance shares on its trading platform, a move which could bring relief to close to 16,000 retail shareholders holding 28 million shares of the local insurer.

The digital securities exchange was earlier ordered by Income to cease this service by Oct 17, in the light of German insurer Allianz's offer to buy a majority stake in Income at $40.58 a share in cash.

But the deal has now been blocked by the Government over concerns about its structure and Income's ability to continue its social mission.

Some mom-and-pop shareholders - many of whom are seniors - say the latest development has left them uncertain about how to sell their shares.

Income shares are not available to trade in public markets as the insurer is not listed.

Alta's exchange arm, AltaX, offers an alternative avenue for accredited retail shareholders to sell their Income shares to a network of global institutional and accredited investors. Otherwise, they have to go through the tedious task of finding willing buyers themselves.

“Alta Exchange is in early discussions to explore the possibility of relisting Income Insurance tokens on AltaX. We will share updates on this in due course,” said a spokesman.

While Alta will delist Income shares from its platform as planned on Oct 17, off-exchange trades can still be facilitated beyond this date, it said.

The exchange is now in talks with Income and local brokerage Phillip Securities, a unit of wealth management firm PhillipCapital, to work towards relisting the shares at a later date.