The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZEN Petroleum Limited, William Tewiah, has announced plans for the company to be officially listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV with Bernard Avle on Wednesday, April 22, Mr Tewiah said the decision followed extensive internal deliberations on the benefits and trade-offs of going public.

“There were a lot of internal discussions as to the pros and cons of us listing,” he said. “We have always set out to run a trans-generational business, be around for a long time, long after I have gone. So, listing on GSE, opening up shares for others to participate, makes you a true Ghanaian company.

“It reinforces the discipline we have had all along, which is discipline with compliance, corporate governance.”

He disclosed that the company’s initial share offering was executed through a private placement with institutional investors, raising more capital than projected.

“It was a private placement by institutions. It was pretty much spoken about before we opened up to the public as required. We ended up raising more, close to a billion. More than we needed,” he said.

Mr Tewiah added that ZEN Petroleum has retained a portion of its equity for now, with plans to introduce an employee share ownership scheme and gradually float additional shares.

“We decided to stay for the 20% for now, to be followed by an employee share ownership scheme. The intention is to float more shares. Ultimately, to bring my personal holding to 50%. There’s a lot of interest, and people do appreciate companies that try to do the right thing. The interest is overwhelming,” he noted.

He further emphasised that ZEN Petroleum has consistently maintained competitive and uniform pricing across its nationwide operations.

“We always set out to do the best we can in every possible way. We offer competitive prices, which is something we started doing years ago. We believe that the end consumer deserves the best price possible.

“So, we have always sold out at the best price possible for us in a sustainable way. We have always maintained that our prices need to be uniform across our networks, not just certain parts of the country,” he added.