By Dipo Olowookere
Shares of Dangote Flour Mills Plc may no longer be available for trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Business Post has learned.
On Monday, October 14, 2019, shareholders of the company, at a court-ordered meeting (COM), approved the sale of the flour miller to another organisation for the sum of N120 billion.
This was done through the acquisition of about 5 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each of the firm’s equities held by shareholders of Dangote Flour Mills Plc at the rate of N24 per unit, an amount that is 124 percent premium to the last traded share price of the company on April 18, 2019 and 145 percent premium on the three months weighted average share price of the company as at April 18, 2019.
The buyer of these units of Dangote Flour shares is Olam Group Company, a public entity listed on the Singapore Exchange in Singapore. It is also a leading global food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fibre to over 19,800 customers worldwide.
The value chain of Olam spreads to over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of an estimated 4.5 million farmers.
Before now, Olam has a stake in Dangote Flour through its subsidiary, Crown Flour Mills Limited (CFML), but the company proposed to buy the remaining equity stake not held by its arm.
With the purchase approved, it is not certain if Olam would want its shares publicly listed on the local stock exchange and if this is the case, shares of the firm would have to be delisted on the trading platform of the NSE.
Olam, through Crown Flour Mills Limited, intends to expand its market in the local flour milling business and give its competitors like Honeywell Flour Mills, Flour Mills of Nigeria and others a run for their money.
Business Post reports that as at the close of business on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, shares of Dangote Flour went down by 55 kobo or 2.39 percent to exchange at N22.45 each.