ASX loses 153 companies in Covid-plagued year

Virgin and Village are among the best known of the firms that delisted in 2020, for reasons ranging from failing to pay fees, to takeovers.

BMP Minerals, which listed on Wednesday in the last IPO for the year, rose 25 per cent on debut. Picture: Christian Gilles

The Australian Securities Exchange has bid farewell to 153 listed companies over 2020, with the exchange delisting firms for reasons ranging from failing to pay listing fees and imploding as the economy tanked, to takeovers.

The losses come after 73 initial public offerings for the year amid 113 overall new listings, leaving the market 40 listings lighter.

High-profile losses include the likes of Virgin Australia, which departed the stock exchange on November. 17, and Village Roadshow, set to be the last out the door for the year when it delists at the close of trade on Wednesday.

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Virgin, which went into administration early on in 2020 under the weight of crippling debts and a pandemic which left borders shut and flights grounded, was acquired for $3.5bn by Bain Capital after a lengthy sale. Virgin shareholders got nothing.

Village Roadshow, founded by the Kirby family in the 1950s and the operator of cinemas and theme parks like Warner Bros Movie World and Sea World, also exits the ASX into the arms of private equity, taken over by BGH Capital in a $586m deal.

Many shareholders who have seen their holdings delist from the ASX have received nothing, although not all companies left the market unwillingly.

TPG Telecom exited the market after being merged with Vodafone after a two-year long battle in the courts to unite the two telcos.

TPG shareholders received a holding in the new listed company.

Some companies moved elsewhere. Benitec Biopharma, which left the ASX on April 16, is now listed on the Nasdaq after relocating to the United States.

There too shareholders received holdings in the new listing.

Multiplex Sites Trust claimed pole position as the first traded fund to leave the market in 2020, removed on the first day of trading on the ASX on January 2.

At the other end of a turbulent year, on December 29, Frontier Diamonds was the second last company of the year to be suspended and later removed from the market.

Frontier Diamonds, which only listed on the ASX in 2018, holds two mines in South Africa it acquired in 2014.

Minerals and extractive companies, which feature heavily on the ASX, largely dominated the delistings for the year, as many went bust.

The metals and mining sector is the largest industry by sector on the ASX, with almost 700 companies involved in exploration, development and production across almost 100 countries listed on the exchange.

The feast and famine industry often dominates both market entrants and leavers, as well as star performers.

Fortescue Metals has risen high on the iron ore wave, up almost 120 per cent from where it started the year.

The loss of 153 companies from the ASX, was countered by 73 initial public offerings in 2020, with many of the newcomers shining.

BMP Minerals, which listed on Wednesday in the last IPO for the year, rose 25 per cent on debut.