Economy
Ibeto Cement Plans Public Listing with $850m Investment Deal with Milost
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian billionaire businessman, Mr Cletus Ibeto, is planning to expand his cement business, Ibeto Cement Company Limited, to the global market.
Ibeto Cement, which was pushed out of the Nigerian market by Dangote Cement, is planning to seal a $850 million financing deal with an American private equity firm, Milost Global Incorporated.
A statement issued on Thursday by Milost Global and obtained by Business Post revealed that Mr Ibeto has already executed a binding Milost Equity Subscription Agreement (MESA) with Milost Global for the $850 million deal.
It was gathered that the amount comprises $500 million in equity and $350 million in debt.
In addition, Ibeto, according to the statement, has started the process of going public a reverse merger in the United States as efforts to become a publicly traded company.
“On Friday May 25, the Nigerian Dollar Billionaire Chief Cletus Ibeto will personally consummate the acquisition of a publicly traded company the he will used to reverse the assets of his cement business in America, the final acquisition and definitive agreements have already been executed,” Milost Global said in the statement.
It was disclosed that the public listing will allow Ibeto Cement to raise enough capital in the US public markets outside the Milost financing as well and put the company in the forefront of the cement industry in Africa as Mr Ibeto plans to grow the company beyond west Africa through the acquisition of other profitable cement businesses outside Nigeria within the next 12 months, which would be done at the back for the development of the two new plants.
Commenting on the new development, Mr Ibeto said, “Our key strategic objective in the vast and extensive development of the cement business in Nigeria and the West African sub-region is to make cement affordable to all Nigerians and tiers of government in such a way that they should be able to develop modest homes for themselves and their families inclusive of road infrastructure.
“As far as I am concerned and with the knowledge I have and what I know in this business, the cement business is an investors’ haven especially in Nigeria and a much more profitable business than even crude oil where a lot of people think is the best place to invest.
“This probably explains why the few people in the business have deliberately created very strong barriers to entry into the industry for prospective investors.
“It is therefore my honest belief that this reverse merger will enable us to accomplish this objective. In the end and, in line with our strategic intent and objective, we are geared to be a world-class cement company in terms of quality, affordability, innovation, service, environment, safety, and corporate governance and also to be a part of building the country’s needed infrastructure all of which certainly guarantees good returns on investment for the stakeholders.”
On his part, the Senior Partner & CIO of Milost Global, Mr Solly S. Asibey, stated that, “International equity, coupled with the diversification of our investment portfolio is key to our strategy for growth in emerging markets. Excellence, innovation, unparalleled strategy, industry knowledge, favourable IRR and strong leadership epitomises the partnership between Milost and Chief Cletus Ibeto.
“This is a great investment opportunity for Milost, and the financial engineering behind the structuring of the transaction will catapult Ibeto Cement to exceptional heights.”
Also commenting, Managing Partner & CEO of Milost Global, Mr Kim Freeman, said that, “Ibeto Cement is an important investment for Milost in Nigeria and indeed Africa. We expect this transaction to provide a template for our other investments in Africa which will continue to enhance the value of the companies we invest in as well as value for our investors.”
Business Post gathered that the transaction was solely advised by Palewater Advisory Group.
Will This Brew Another Cement War in the Industry?
This news will likely start another round of cement war between old rivals; Ibeto Cement and Dangote Cement, which currently trades on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
However, one question observers will ask is if Ibeto can dislodge Dangote Cement from the cement business first in Nigeria and then in Africa?
This is because Dangote Cement controls about 65 percent of the market share, leaving the rest to Lafarge Africa and others.
Let’s hear your view on this.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shares of First Holdco Plc worth N45.0 billion issued through a private placement have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
A circular issued by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX Regulation Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, disclosed that the equities were admitted for trading at the stock market on Monday.
According to the notice, the additional shares brought for listing to rank pari passu with existing shares of the organisation were 1,021,334,544 units.
These stocks were sold to one of the company’s major shareholders at a unit price of N44.06, amounting to N45.0 billion.
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco, as a result of this listing, are now 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of First Holdco Plc were on Monday, June 22, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s private placement of 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N44.06 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco Plc have now increased to 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 44,453,693,133 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has approved fresh import licences for petrol and diesel for the third quarter of 2026 (July – September) to prevent potential supply shortages in the domestic market.
According to a report by global energy intelligence firm, Argus Media, the latest approvals were issued to major downstream operators amid declining fuel stock levels and concerns over reduced petrol production at the 700,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to balance increasing local refining capacity with the need to guarantee adequate supplies of petroleum products across the country.
According to the Argus report, domestic firms, including AA Rano, AYM Shafa, Bono Energy, Nipco, Matrix Energy and Pinnacle Oil, received permits to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, during the July-September period.
The publication further reported that the same companies, with the exception of Nipco, were granted approvals to import Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel. The fresh approvals follow an earlier batch of petrol import permits issued by the regulator in May, covering about 720,000 metric tonnes.
Quoting a regulatory source, Argus noted that many of the companies granted the latest approvals were among those that had received permits in previous rounds. “These are some of the same ones that previously received the PMS permits,” the source was quoted as saying.
It was also claimed that AA Rano and Matrix Energy each received approvals to import 180,000 metric tonnes of petrol. AYM Shafa received approval for 120,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle Oil received a permit covering 150,000 metric tonnes.
For diesel imports, Argus reported that AYM Shafa obtained a permit for 60,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle secured approval for 45,000 metric tonnes. The report stated that the import approvals were issued only recently, after being delayed from an initial target date of June 15.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.01 per cent on Tuesday, June 23, dragging the market capitalisation down by N25.91 billion to N2.544 trillion from Monday’s N2.570 trillion. Also, the NASD Security Index (NSI) decreased by 43.17 points to 4,239.34 points from 4,282.51 points.
The triplet price losers were Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N4.82 to trade at N75.00 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N79.82 per unit. NASD Plc depreciated by N3.70 to close at N33.30 per share compared with the preceding day’s N37.00 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc marginally lost 1 Kobo to sell at N21.41 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N21.42 per unit.
Tuesday’s trading data showed that the volume of securities traded by investors retreated by 35.9 per cent to 211,671 units from 330,034 units, and the value of securities fell by 82.9 per cent to N5.6 million from N32.7 million, while the number of deals doubled to 38 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.1 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
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