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Dangote to sell N200b shares in block divestment

 

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), the majority core investor in Dangote Cement Plc, plans to sell shares valued at more than N200 billion in a partial divestment that will widen the float for Dangote Cement. DIL is owned by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, with over 90 per cent majority equity in Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised company.

A document obtained by The Nation showed that Dangote Cement has secured regulatory approval for block divestment of 852.03 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. Dangote Cement opened yesterday at N235 per share at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The block divestment represents 5.0 per cent of the issued share capital of Dangote Cement.
Dangote Cement’s issued share capital consists of 17.041 billion ordinary shares, which were valued at N4.004 trillion at the opening of the stock market yesterday. Dangote Cement accounts for more than 30 per cent of the total market capitalisation of quoted equities.
A source in the know said the DIL plans to undertake the block sale in tranches and the recent sale of 416 million ordinary shares was the first tranche of the N200 billion divestment. About 2.44 per cent equity stake in Dangote Cement was swapped under pre-arranged transactions earlier this month. A report on the transactions indicated that six deals were struck for the transfer of 416 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at a below-the-market price of N210.
The deals, according to the report, were done through the off-market, negotiated cross deals window of the Exchange and as such was not subjected to the dynamics of price discovery for the particular period. Off-market trade implied that the deal was sealed outside the floor of the NSE.
The negotiated cross deal platform of the Exchange is a special-purpose trading platform that is meant for voluminous transaction. By the cross deal, it implies that the buyer and the seller had been prearranged and the transfer at the stock market was a mere perfection of the agreement between the two. The negotiated cross deal allows the parties to the deal to close the deal at reduced cost.

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