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A commercial court in Libreville has cleared the way for BGFI Holding Corporation’s long-delayed stock market listing, rejecting a legal challenge from a group of shareholders led by Christian Kerangall, who holds a 23% stake in the company.
In a ruling issued Friday, the court dismissed all allegations raised by Kerangall and his co-claimants, upholding every resolution passed during BGFI’s June 25 extraordinary general meeting. The decision removes one of the main obstacles to the company’s planned listing on the Central Africa Stock Exchange (BVMAC) in Douala.
The dispute centered on BGFI’s planned initial public offering—originally slated for July 15, then postponed to July 31, before being suspended indefinitely—as well as a contested capital increase of 15.7 billion CFA francs that would have boosted share capital from 141.6 billion to 157.3 billion CFA francs.
BGFI Holding, one of Central Africa’s leading financial groups, had sought to list 1,573,536 shares—equal to 10% of its capital—at 80,000 CFA francs each, aiming to raise 125.8 billion CFA francs. The offering attracted strong investor interest before being derailed by shareholder opposition and governance changes following the appointment of longtime chairman Henri-Claude Oyima to the Gabonese government.
The board said it paused the IPO to preserve stakeholder unity until the court’s verdict. With the legal challenge resolved, BGFI confirmed its “Dynamique 2025” strategy has delivered stronger-than-expected results and announced a fresh 2026–2030 plan focused on sustainable financing for African economies.
The company said a revised IPO timetable will be released “very soon,” signaling that its ambitions for a major market debut remain firmly on track.
