Hot! Dangote Flour Initial Public Offer Out Next Week

@rev

The offer price is N15 not N16.

11 issuing houses underwrite Dangote Flour Mills N19b offer
Posted Thursday, August 30, 2007

Eleven issuing houses including FCMB Capital Markets Limited, Zenith Capital, Access Bank, Diamond Bank, GTBank, IBTC, Intercontinental Bank, UBA among others have underwritten the N19 billion Dangote Flour Mills Plc's offer for subscription by 80 per cent.

The company preparatory to its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange is offering 1.25 billion shares to the public at N15 per share to raise N18.75 billion.

The offer, according to the prospectus is being undertaken to give investors an opportunity to become part owners of the company, which is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited.

Besides, the IPO would avail the company the opportunity to meet the requirements for a listing on the stock exchange.

Under the underwriting agreement, the issuing houses have being committed by the joint underwriters on a firm basis with each of them committing N1.364 billion. The offer will open on September 6 and closes on September 27, 2007.

Already, an application has been made to the council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the admission to its daily official list, the entire issued and paid-up share capital of the company.

In the prospectus, it was also stated that 60 per cent of the offer would be preferably allotted to identified investors.

The company currently has three billion shares valued at N1.5 billion as authorised share capital, with a fully paid up capital of N1.5 billion, but the issued share capital was increased recently by the addition of 1.05 billion shares while authorised share capital now stands at N3 billion, made up of six billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each

Dangote Flour Mills Plc commenced operations in 1999, as a division of Dangote Industries Limited - one of Nigeria's largest and fastest growing conglomerates. Following the strategic decision of Dangote Industries Limited to unbundle its various operators, Dangote Flour Mills Plc was incorporated in 2003.

The rethinking was completed in January 2006 when the Federal High Court sanctioned a scheme of arrangement wherein all the assets, liabilities and undertakings of the erstwhile flour division of Dangote Industries was transferred to Dangote Flour Mills Plc.

From an installed capacity of 500 metric tonnes per day, at its Apapa mill, the company has expanded rapidly by opening in quick successions, three flour mills in Kano, Calabar and Ilorin. - Punch