(New York) — Genius Group Ltd. (NYSE: GNS) will retire 30.1 million shares of its common stock, a move that will reduce its public float by 25.8 percent, the company announced Tuesday.
"Our plan to retire and remove these 30.1 million shares will meaningfully reduce our total shares outstanding and public float, for the benefit of our shareholders,” Roger James Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Genius Group, said.
The shares to be retired consist of 17.3 million unclaimed shares from the company’s asset purchase agreement with Entrepreneur Resorts Ltd (ERL), 5.5 million GNS shares payable to Genius Group for its prior shareholding in ERL, and 7.4 million shares awarded to the company by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in an arbitration proceeding. All 30.1 million shares are currently held by VStock Transfer LLC, the company's transfer agent.
The retirement of these shares will reduce the company's public float to 116.7 million shares. This action is part of the company's broader efforts to strengthen its share structure and protect shareholder interests.
The ERL Share Count Exercise, which concluded on February 13, 2026, was initiated to resolve a discrepancy in GNS shares held by brokers following the ERL spin-off in August 2023. The exercise identified 17,272,952 unclaimed shares, which have remained so for 2.5 years.
The ICC arbitration award, announced on April 20, 2026, entitled Genius Group to the return of 7.4 million shares of its common stock. The company is currently taking legal action to have these shares released from escrow.
In a separate move to strengthen its financial position, Genius Group recently closed an $8 million registered direct offering. The company used $5.5 million of the proceeds to acquire a 9.9% stake in Jewel Financial Limited, the parent company of Bermuda's dual-licensed digital bank, Jewel Bancorp Ltd. This investment is part of Genius Group's strategy to become a permitted payment stablecoin issuer and digital asset service provider.
The reduction in the number of outstanding shares is a positive signal to investors, suggesting confidence from the management and a commitment to increasing shareholder value. Investors will be watching for the finalization of the share retirement and the company's progress on its digital asset initiatives.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
