C&I Leasing Seeks Shareholders’ Approval to Convert $10m Loan to Equity

By Dipo Olowookere

The board of C&I Leasing Plc has called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to discuss the conversion of a $10 million loan to equity for Neoma Africa Fund.

The company, in a notice, said the EGM will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, by 11am at The Incubator on City of David Road, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos.

At the meeting, shareholders would be required to either authorise or reject the proposal and if approved, the company will have to create additional shares to accommodate the value of the debt to equity request.

According to the notice filed to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by C&I Leasing, if the request is granted by the shareholders, a total of 987,500,000 ordinary shares of the organisation will be created.

The disclosure from the company specifically said at the EGM, shareholders will be asked to “approve the conversion by Neoma Africa Fund (formerly Aureos Africa Fund) its nominee, assignee or transferee of the $10 million loan stock issued by the company to Neoma Africa Fund to 987,500,000 ordinary shares of the company.”

It further said the shareholders will also be required to approve “the conversion by Neoma Africa Fund, its nominee, assignee or transferee of the $10 million unsecured variable coupon redeemable convertible loan stock in registered units of N4.75 or the Dollar equivalent units into 987,500,000 ordinary shares of the company.

Recall that in January 2019, C&I Leasing announced that Abraaj, the managers of the Aureos Africa Fund, had agreed to convert the $10 million loan stock in the quoted company to equity. The loan was obtained by the Nigerian firm and it matured in 2018.

C&I Leasing has been in operation for over two decades and has since evolved from being a simple finance leasing company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1991 to becoming a diversified leasing and business service conglomerate providing support services to various indigenous and multinational organizations in West Africa along three lines: Fleet Management, Personnel Outsourcing and Marine Services.