Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The much-awaited share buy-back programme of Dangote Cement Plc will commence Wednesday, December 30, 2020, and end on Thursday, December 31, 2020, the board has confirmed.
Recall that on January 21, 2020, the shareholders of the cement giant authorised the board to carry out the exercise at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
The company had said it was planning to mop up 10 per cent of its 17,040,507,404 fully paid-up ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, Dangote Cement said it would do the share buy-back in tranches and in the first, it would buy up 85,202,537 fully paid-up ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, representing 0.5 per cent of the entire current issued shares.
These stocks, according to the firm, would be purchased in the open market/the exchange in the two days through its stockbrokers, Meristem Stockbrokers Limited and Vetiva Securities Limited.
In the disclosure, Dangote Cement noted that, “The company, through its appointed stockbrokers, will at its discretion purchase DCP shares in the open market over the duration of tranche I, subject to prevailing market conditions and under the current daily trading rules of the NSE.
“DCP would, however, not be under any obligation whatsoever to purchase any or all of the DCP shares put on offer over the duration of tranche I.”
“The shares being bought back by the company under the share buy-back programme will be held as treasury shares, and may subsequently be cancelled.
“Execution of this tranche I is not expected to have any material impact on the company’s financial position.
“Dangote Cement shareholders seeking to participate in tranche I of the share buy-back programme are hereby advised to contact their stockbrokers or any other independent professional adviser registered as a capital market operator by the SEC for further guidance on the submission of trades on the NSE’s trading platform.
“DCP will provide weekly updates on the progress of tranche I of the programme on its website over the duration of this tranche.
“The company will continue to monitor the evolving business environment and market conditions, in making decisions on further tranches of the share buy-back programme.
“Shareholders and investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of Dangote Cement until the completion of tranche I of the share buy-back programme,” the firm said.
