Unilever Overseas Holdings, the United Kingdom-based foreign core investor in Unilever Nigeria Plc, has concluded arrangements to launch its tender offer for acquisition of additional equity stake in the Nigerian subsidiary in a transaction valued at about N43 billion or £144.5 million.
- Authoritative sources in the know of the transaction told The Nation that Unilever had filed the tender document with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and secured the necessary approval to launch the tender offer.
- A source in the know at SEC confirmed that the apex capital market regulator has granted “no objection” letter to the tender document, a market refrain for regulatory approval.
- Sources said Unilever will soon send out the tender offer document to shareholders of Unilever Nigeria ahead of the May 2015 annual general meeting of the conglomerate.
- As a tender offer, the offer will be made to shareholders directly and any shareholder who elects to sell some or all of their shares in Unilever Nigeria will have the opportunity to do so.
- Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited have been the financial advisers to Unilever on the proposed transaction.
- Under the acquisition tender, Unilever Overseas Holdings plans to increase its equity stake in the Nigerian company from 50.04 per cent up to a maximum of 75 per cent.
- Unilever Overseas Holdings proposes to acquire about 944.47 million ordinary shares in Unilever Nigeria at an intended offer price of N45.50 per share in cash. Unilever Nigeria, which had traded N34 per share in the wake of the announcement, had rallied above N40. It opened this week at N43.43 and closed the first trading session lower at N41.65 per share.
- Unilever closed at N40.01 yesterday
