By Dipo Olowookere
The beer war in the Nigerian brewery industry is getting intensified by the day as one of the major gladiators in the arena is turning to shareholder to get funds to acquire the needed weaponry to execute its plot and possibly conquer the market.
As you read this, the board has agreed to source for fresh capital from within, but an approval would first be needed from those expected to part with their money and then from the capital market regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, the board of directors of the brewery giant held a meeting where they approved the raising of these funds through a rights issue.
“The board of directors of International Breweries Plc at its board meeting held on September 18, 2019 considered and approved a proposal for a rights issue as a form of capital raising for the company,” a notice from the company disclosed.
The board explained that the “notification is given in line with Section 1.1 of the Rules Relating to Board Meetings-being obligation to notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange of key decision(s) taken by the board within 24 hours after the relevant board meeting.”
It stated that “the board approval aforementioned is however subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals in the prescribed form.”
