Nigeria's Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man, may have revived its plans to raise $1 billion through a share sale in London that, Bloomberg report has indicated, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The cement firm, majority owned by Aliko Dangote, is said to have approached investment bankers to discuss a potential United Kingdom listing.
Once banks have been appointed, it will probably take at least five months to complete the process, one of the people said.
The cement maker, with extensive subsidiaries in some part of the continent and Nepal is also considering issuing a debut Eurobond, according to two different people familiar with the matter.
Discussions are ongoing and a listing of Africa’s biggest cement maker may not go ahead, the people said.
“We have not, to the best of my knowledge, taken such a decision,” Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Cement’s spokesman in Lagos, said in an emailed response to questions, without commenting on the banker talks.
Fresh capital would enable Dangote Cement to fund expansion plans in sub-Saharan Africa and comply with a demand from the Lagos bourse that listed companies should have a free float of at least 20 percent, regardless of where the shares are traded.
Discussions are ongoing and a listing of Africa’s biggest cement maker may not go ahead, the people said.
“We have not, to the best of my knowledge, taken such a decision,” Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Cement’s spokesman in Lagos, said in an emailed response to questions, without commenting on the banker talks.
Fresh capital would enable Dangote Cement to fund expansion plans in sub-Saharan Africa and comply with a demand from the Lagos bourse that listed companies should have a free float of at least 20 percent, regardless of where the shares are traded.
The company sees London as a more favorable place to attract about $1 billion than in its home base of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where no company has raised more than Starcomms Plc’s $796 million in 2008.
Dangote Cement, which has a Lagos free float of 8.9 percent and a market valuation of $12.2 billion, mulled raising equity in London in 2010.
Dangote Cement, which has a Lagos free float of 8.9 percent and a market valuation of $12.2 billion, mulled raising equity in London in 2010.
At the time, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley helped it prepare a sale that could have raised as much as $5 billion before the move was aborted.
The revival of the plan comes as Dangote Cement shares climb to near records as the Nigerian economy recovers from a downturn caused by the 2014 slump in oil prices. The economy of Africa’s most populous nation went into recession in 2016 as government revenue plunged.
The revival of the plan comes as Dangote Cement shares climb to near records as the Nigerian economy recovers from a downturn caused by the 2014 slump in oil prices. The economy of Africa’s most populous nation went into recession in 2016 as government revenue plunged.
Nigerian stocks are up 11 percent this year in dollar terms, the sixth best performance globally according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Aliko Dangote has a net worth of $13.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His Dangote Industries Ltd. conglomerate has interests in sugar, flour, and packaged food as well as controlling the cement company.
Aliko Dangote has a net worth of $13.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His Dangote Industries Ltd. conglomerate has interests in sugar, flour, and packaged food as well as controlling the cement company.
The 60-year-old has repeatedly expressed a desire to bid for London’s Arsenal Football Club and is building a 650,000 barrel-a-day oil refinery near Lagos, which will cost more than $10 billion.
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