At risk of delisting, Swvl is contemplating new investment offers: Cairo-born mass transit app Swvl has received acquisition and partnership offers from investors as it tries to avoid being kicked off the Nasdaq stock exchange, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the offers. Swvl has received several delisting warnings from the tech-focused US bourse due to the collapse of its share price and in December said it was considering a range of options to support the company.
Details are few and far between: The newspaper provides little detail about the offers on the table, which reportedly vary between investors buying an existing stake in the company or subscribing to new shares via a capital increase. Enterprise was unable to reach a company representative for comment on the report.
Swvl said last month that it had “received indications of interest” and was evaluating its options, but did not provide further details. The company in December set up a committee to explore a range of options including “corporate sale, merger or other business combination, a sale of all or a portion of the company’s assets, strategic investment, new debt or equity financings or other significant transactions.”
One of the casualties of the US tech downturn: Swvl has seen its share price collapse more than 99% since its IPO in April 2022 as tightening financial conditions caused investor interest to dry up. The company’s valuation has fallen from USD 1.5 bn to less than USD 6.0 mn, triggering delisting warnings from the Nasdaq to raise its market cap. Meanwhile, widening losses have forced the company to make large-scale layoffs and operational cutbacks, as well ascall off acquisitions.
Another warning: The Nasdaq issued Swvl with a fresh delisting warning at the end of March, notifying it that it has until 25 September to raise the value of its publicly held shares above USD 15 mn. The company has to meet this threshold for at least 10 consecutive business days to remain on the exchange. A reverse stock split earlier this year briefly propped up its shares and brought it back into compliance with another Nasdaq rule that requires a minimum USD 1.00 share price.
And to add another problem: Two of Swvl’s board members and independent members of its audit committee — Steve Albrecht and Gbenga Oyebode — resigned last week. That leaves Swvl with just one member on its audit committee, when it needs three to comply with Nasdaq rules, according to a SEC disclosure.
Swvl CFO Youssef Salem also resigned at the end of last month. Read more in today’s Moves section, below.