Alhaj Textile board reconstruction, National Tea fresh share issuance cleared 

The Appellate Division on Monday upheld its chamber judge's orders, which allowed the securities regulator to proceed with the board reconstruction at Alhaj Textile Mills and cleared National Tea Company to issue fresh shares.

Earlier in May and June, the High Court stayed the decisions made by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) regarding the two listed companies upon separate writ petitions.

Before the Eid-ul Azha holidays, the chamber judge stayed the High Court orders, and on Monday the full bench of the Appellate Division upheld the chamber judge's decisions, according to Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain, who along with Barrister AM Masum represented the securities regulator at the Supreme Court.

Both writ petitions, however, would be settled at the company bench of the High Court as instructed by the Appellate Division.

"The BSEC-appointed board of Alhaj Textile will continue, and National Tea can start subscriptions for its planned new shares," Sayed Mahsib Hossain told TBS while discussing the implications of the Appellate Division orders.

Alhaj Textile Mills, which has been going through a tug of war between two groups of directors, filed a writ petition challenging the BSEC's 5 June letter that withdrew some of the independent directors it appointed earlier and replaced them with new faces.

On the other hand, National Tea shareholder Md Jakir Hossain Sarkar, whose petition at the company court in May halted the company's fresh share subscription two weeks after the record date, left investors in a chaotic situation.

Jakir, who owns only 10 shares of the company, challenged the company scheme approved by the BSEC for issuing fresh shares worth around Tk280 crore as it did not treat all existing shareholders equally.

At Tk119.53 per new share, the government and its entities were offered to buy 4.43 fresh shares against each existing share, while non-government sponsor-directors were offered to buy 3.21 shares against each share, and the least amount of 2.85 shares against one were offered to the general public.

The special arrangement was approved, eying 51% government shareholding in the company, and the BSEC used its special power to supersede other laws for that, according to its lawyers. National Tea placement shares subscription was set to open on 10 July and end on 10 September and in the meantime, the regulator withheld the subscription until legal complexities went away.