By Dipo Olowookere
One of the hospitality companies in Nigeria, Capital Hotels Plc, will soon become highly competitive in the industry if the proposed sale of its 51 per cent stake to an energy firm, 11 Plc, formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, goes through.
11 Plc is considering investing in the company and has held discussions with the board on this and Capital Hotels wants over N5 billion for this to happen.
On Monday, June 14, 2021, the board of the company held an emergency and it was agreed that the oil giant can acquire a 51 per cent stake in the organisation.
Checks by Business Post revealed that as at Friday, June 18, 2021, according to information harvested from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Capital Hotels has shares outstanding of 1,548,780,000 units.
The total worth of the hospitality firm on the stock exchange was N3.7 billion at the close of business last Friday as its share price closed at N2.40 per unit.
But in order to achieve its goal of being one of the leaders in the sector, the board wants the new investor to pay N7.00 per share for about 789,877,800 units of the company’s equities, which represents 51 per cent of the total shares. This will mean that 11 Plc will have to cough out about N5.5 billion to acquire the controlling stake of the firm.
In a statement signed by its company secretary, Mr Alex Ugwuanyi, Capital Hotels, however, emphasised that this transaction would still have to be approved by shareholders of the company.
It was also stressed that 11 Plc will also still have to accept to pay N7.00 for each of the company’s stock, while the current core shareholder, Hans Gremlin Nigeria Limited, will also have to agree to let go of its 50 per cent stake.
According to the notice, the main reason for accepting to sell the 51 per cent stake of Capital Hotels to 11 Plc is to enable the company to “offer the right competition in the Abuja hospitality market,” where it operates the Sheraton Abuja Hotel
“The board also agreed that in order to balance the interest of Capital Hotels Plc, Hans Gremlin Nigeria Limited and 11 Plc, the transaction could be structured with an offer for sale and offer for subscription subject to obtaining approval required from the regulatory authorities.
“The board further agreed that if the new investor accepts the conditions herein stated, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) would be convened to get the approval of the shareholders for this transaction,” the disclosure said.
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