By Dipo Olowookere
Minority shareholders of Eterna Plc have been offered 17.6 million to give up their equity stake in the local energy company.
The offer is being made by Preline Limited, the largest and majority shareholder in Eterna after it recently acquired a 60.98 per cent equity stake in the organisation through the purchase of 794,969,774 ordinary shares of the public-quoted company on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
After the deal, Preline triggered the mandatory tender offer (MTO) provisions of the Investment and Securities Act and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations and after obtaining approvals, it is willing to pay N13.50 for the 1,300,000 ordinary shares held by minority investors, which is equivalent to 0.10 per cent stake.
In a statement issued by the secretary of Eterna, Mr Mandella Golkus, it was stated that the “notification is in fulfilment of our disclosure obligations in line with regulatory guidelines and our corporate responsibility to our stakeholders.”
According to Eterna, the transaction takes the firm a step closer to its vision of becoming Africa’s preferred energy company and “better positions us to take advantage of the opportunities in our industry and create superior value for our stakeholders (customers, staff, communities and shareholders).”
Eterna is an integrated energy company that retails and distributes petroleum products across the country to retail, industrial, automotive, marine and energy customers.
The organisation has a retail footprint of over 70 active petroleum products retail outlets, world-class lubricants, a manufacturing plant and petroleum storage terminals.
Eterna, which has its headquarters in Lagos, is the sole licensee of Castrol products in Nigeria.
Business Post reports that at the stock market today, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, shares of the company closed flat at N5.00 per unit. It is not certain if the firm will remain on the local exchange after the MTO.
Adedapo Adesanya