Economy
PCMN Plc Shareholders Meet Feb 15 to Consider Proposed Scheme of Arrangement
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A meeting has been fixed for Thursday, February 15, 2018, for holders of the fully paid up ordinary shares of Paints and Coatings Manufacturers Nigeria (PCMN) Plc to consider the Scheme of Arrangement proposed to be entered into between the firm and the entire holders of its fully paid ordinary shares (the Scheme).
The meeting was ordered by a Federal High Court and it would take place at the Lagos Commerce 81 Industry Conference Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos at 11am.
Shareholders would during the gathering, will look into the Scheme of Arrangement dated January 10, 2018 and probably give Directors of the company to consent to any modifications of the Scheme of Arrangement that the court or any regulatory authority may deem fit to impose and approve.
A statement released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) disclosed that, “Notice is hereby given that by the Orders of the Federal High Court (hereinafter referred to as the Court) dated 13th October 2017 and 24th November, 2017 respectively, made in the above matter, the Court has directed that a meeting of the holders of the fully paid up ordinary shares of Paints and Coatings Manufacturers Nigeria Plc (hereinafter referred to as the Company) be convened for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving (with or without modification) a Scheme of Arrangement proposed to be entered into between the Company and the entire holders of its fully paid ordinary shares (the Scheme).
“A copy of the said Scheme and a copy of the Explanatory Statement that each shareholder of the Company is required to be furnished with pursuant to Section 540 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, can be found on pages 17 to 21 and pages 12 to 16 of the Scheme Document, respectively.
“The Court ordered meeting of the shareholders of the Company (the Meeting) will be held on February 15, 2018 at Lagos Commerce 81 Industry Conference Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos at 11:0oam at which place and time all the aforesaid shareholders are requested to attend.
“At the Meeting, the following sub-joined resolutions will be proposed and if thought fit passed as special resolutions of the Company:
“1. That this Meeting approves the Scheme of Arrangement dated January 10, 2018 and that the Directors be and are hereby authorised to consent to any modifications of the Scheme of Arrangement that the Court or any regulatory authority may deem fit to impose and approve.
“2. That for the purpose of giving effect to the Scheme in its original form or with (or subject to) such modification, addition and condition agreed between the Company and the entire holders of its fully paid ordinary shares and/or approved or imposed by the Court or any regulatory authority:
“• Five Scheme Shares (as defined in the Scheme) be cancelled.
“• The holders of the Scheme Shares be allotted the appropriate number of shares of Paintcom Investment Nigeria Limited (as specified in the Scheme) or be paid a cash consideration of N1.00 per Scheme Share for the surrender and cancellation of the said Scheme Shares.
“• Forthwith and contingent/y upon the cancellation of the Scheme Shares referred to in Clause 2(a) taking effect:
“I. the share capital of the Company be restored to its former amount by the issue of such number of New PCMN Shares (as defined in the Scheme) as shall be equal in number to the number of Scheme Shares cancelled as aforesaid and having the same rights as the Scheme Shares so cancelled; and
“II. The Directors of the Company be authorized to capitalise the sum of N396, 457, 128. 00 from the amount credited to the Company’s reserves as a result of the cancellation of the Scheme Shares and such sum be applied in paying up in full at par the New PCMN Shares issued pursuant to Clause 2(c)(i) above, which would be allotted and credited as fully paid to Paintcom Investment Nigeria Limited and/or its nominee(s) in consideration for the cash payment to be made to the Scheme Shareholders (as defined in the Scheme) as set out in Clause 2(b) above or the allotment of shares in Paintcom Investment Nigeria Limited.
“3. That conditionally upon the Scheme becoming effective, the ordinary shares of the Company be de- listed from the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
“4. That the Board of Directors of the Company be and is hereby authorised to take all actions as may become necessary to effect the Scheme of Arrangement.
“By the said Orders, the Court has appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, Sylverius I. Okoli, or failing him, Michael Thompson or failing them both, any other director appointed in their stead by the shareholders present at the meeting to act as Chairman of the said Meeting and has directed the Chairman to report the results thereof to the Court.
Voting at the Meeting will be by poll. Shareholders may vote in person or they may appoint any other person, whether a shareholder or not, to act as proxy and to attend and vote in their stead.
“A proxy form is being sent to each shareholder. In the case of joint shareholders, the vote of the senior holder who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy, will be accepted to the exclusion of the vote(s) of the other joint holder(s); and for this purpose seniority will be determined by the order in which their names stand in the register of members of the Company.
“It is requested that forms appointing proxies be lodged at the office of the Registrars of the Company, Meristem Registrars Limited, as shown on the proxy from, not less than 24 hours before the time appointed for the Meeting.
“Please note that the lodging of the proxy form does not prevent you from ate ding the Meeting and voting should you wish to do so. However, in such arrangement, your proxy will not be entitled to vote.
“A member entitled to attend the Meeting who does not receive a copy of the Scheme Document within 14 days of the date of this notice can obtain copies of same from the Registrars of the Company, Meristem Registrars Limited, 213, Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, Lagos.
“The register of members will be closed from December 31, 2017 for the purpose of attendance at the Court Ordered Meeting.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Despite signs that Nigeria’s headline inflation is easing, rising food prices continue to threaten the country’s inflation outlook, the chief executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Mr Muda Yusuf, has warned.
He noted that structural inflationary pressures in the real economy remain pronounced despite improving macroeconomic stability.
In a policy brief released following the inflation report, he noted that headline inflation eased marginally, while month-on-month change moderated from 1.75 per cent to 1.66 per cent, indicating that headline inflation has largely plateaued.
According to him, the dominant concern in the latest inflation report is the renewed acceleration in food inflation.
This growth, he said, suggested that food prices have resumed an upward trajectory after a brief period of moderation.
Warning that a renewed increase in food inflation has significant economic and social implications, he stressed that food inflation remained the biggest driver of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, stressing that rising food prices continue to erode household purchasing power, worsen poverty and food insecurity while weakening the inclusiveness of the current reform programme.
He maintained that sustained moderation in food prices is critical to improving citizens’ welfare and strengthening public confidence in the ongoing economic reforms.
Acknowledging the easing of core inflation as encouraging, he drew attention to the persistence of urban inflation.
At 16.08 per cent, urban inflation exceeded the national headline inflation rate of 15.91 per cent, while month-on-month urban inflation increased from 1.99 per cent to 2.13 per cent.
According to Mr Yusuf, the figures indicated that inflationary pressures remained particularly intense across urban centres.
He attributed the rising urban inflation partly to increasing population displacement from rural communities affected by insecurity, expressing worry that as more households migrate to urban areas, demand for housing, transportation, utilities and other essential services would increase, adding to inflationary pressures and creating additional urbanisation challenges.
Addressing insecurity in farming communities, he said, was important not only for protecting lives and property and boosting agricultural output but also for easing cost pressures in urban centres, adding that the June CPI data reinforced the view that Nigeria’s inflation challenge is predominantly structural rather than monetary.
On the monetary policy outlook, he said the data do not justify further monetary tightening, arguing that headline inflation has largely stabilised.
The CPPE chief expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to retain the current monetary policy rate at its next meeting, adding that the priority is for monetary and fiscal authorities to work together to accelerate structural reforms to expand food supply, improve logistics, reduce energy and production costs, lower debt service costs, as well as strengthen domestic value chains.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Additional shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The new equities were added to the company’s existing stocks on Customs Street on Thursday, July 16, 2026, a notice from the bourse confirmed.
Business Post reports the total new ordinary shares of Sterling Holdings listed yesterday were 13,812,239,000 units.
They were from the offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each sold for N7.00 per share, which was oversubscribed by investors.
The financial institution brought the new shares to the stock exchange to increase its total issued and fully paid-up shares to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 52,117,012,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 13,812,239,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc were on Thursday, July 16, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N7.00 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have now increased from 52,117,012,414 to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice read.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, establishing a new framework to coordinate the regulation of virtual assets across government agencies as Nigeria seeks to curb fraud while supporting innovation in the digital economy.
The Executive Order, which takes immediate effect, creates a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to harmonise oversight of cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, stablecoins, and other digital assets without creating a new regulator.
As part of the new framework, the CBN will establish a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible firms to test virtual asset products, blockchain solutions, and related services under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
According to the presidency, the Executive Order responds to the growing complexity of virtual assets, which increasingly cut across the traditional boundaries of currencies, securities, commodities, and payment systems.
The fragmented regulatory environment has left gaps that have exposed Nigeria to money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy risks, fraud, and revenue losses.
The government said some unregistered operators have exploited these regulatory gaps to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians, resulting in significant financial losses.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies,” the statement read.
Under the new framework, the Virtual Asset Council will be chaired by the CBN, with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice chairs. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Council will provide policy direction, improve cooperation among participating agencies, and work with the Attorney General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework for the sector.
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the Council’s operational arm. The office will be domiciled at the CBN and will coordinate information sharing, applications, and reporting among the participating agencies through a shared supervisory technology platform.
The presidency stressed that the Executive Order does not create a new regulator or transfer statutory powers from existing agencies, clarifying that instead, each institution will continue to exercise its existing mandate while working within a coordinated framework.
Under the arrangement, registration of virtual asset businesses will depend on the nature of the service being offered.
Activities classified as securities will continue to be regulated by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody, and other services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the CBN.
Where there is uncertainty over regulatory jurisdiction, the Virtual Asset Council will determine the appropriate supervising agency.
“The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market,” the statement added.
According to the presidency, the sandbox will enable regulators to evaluate the implications of emerging products for financial stability, monetary sovereignty, consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity, and revenue administration.
The central bank is expected to announce further details of the sandbox.
