Dangote Refinery IPO Attracts N5.85trn Bids from 3.8 million Subscribers

By Adedapo Adesanya

Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s initial public offering (IPO) attracted subscriptions worth N5.85 trillion from nearly 3.8 million applicants, exceeding its initial offer size of N2.15 trillion.

According to reports, investors applied for 11.15 billion shares at N525 each, against the 4.1 billion shares offered by the company.

The subscription represents applications rather than final allotments, with the actual amount to be raised depending on the allocation process and regulatory approvals.

Retail investors accounted for about 84.39 per cent of all subscribers, with nearly 3.8 million applicants. However, they applied for 62.26 million shares valued at N32.69 billion, representing only 0.56 per cent of total shares subscribed.

Another 404,000 applicants, representing 10.71 per cent of subscribers, applied for 178.45 million shares worth N93.69 billion.

Combined, the two categories accounted for about 95.1 per cent of applicants but only 2.16 per cent of the total shares applied for.

The figures show that while the offer attracted millions of individual investors, a significant share of the financial commitments came from a small number of large subscribers.

According to the subscription data, three investors accounted for approximately 46.72 per cent of total shares subscribed, representing applications worth about N2.73 trillion.

One investor applied for 771 million shares valued at about N405 billion, representing 6.92 per cent of total demand.

Two groups of five investors each applied for 671.5 million shares worth N352.54 billion and 667.91 million shares valued at N350.65 billion, respectively.

The identities of the applicants and the breakdown of subscriptions between domestic and foreign institutions were not disclosed.

The offering also attracted interest from international institutional investors.

South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, which manages about $220 billion in pension assets, was reported to have sought a substantial allocation, while Nigerian pension fund managers also expressed interest in the refinery’s shares.

The strong demand has shifted attention to the allotment process, which will determine how the available shares are distributed among applicants and the final amount raised.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly permitted the refinery to absorb up to 30 per cent of additional oversubscription on top of its base offer.

Dangote Refinery launched the IPO on September 14, offering about 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each. The subscription period, initially scheduled to close on October 13, was extended to October 27 following regulatory approval.

The offering forms part of the refinery’s financing strategy for an expansion programme aimed at increasing its processing capacity to about 1.4 million barrels per day.

The company has outlined a five-year investment programme estimated at $14.3 billion, with proceeds from the share sale expected to contribute to its funding requirements.

For the nine months ended September 2026, the refinery reported revenue of $22.48 billion, representing a 144.47 per cent increase from the corresponding period of 2025. Profit after tax stood at $4.73 billion, compared with a loss of about $117 million in the same period last year.

The final allotment announcement is expected to provide clarity on the amount raised, the composition of the refinery’s shareholder base and the commencement of trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), later this month.