Unilever set to acquire more Unilever Nigeria

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.

Unilever Nigeria has been struggling with rising financing expenses. While it witnessed considerable growth in its top-line and effectively curtailed its operating expenses in the first quarter, burgeoning financial expenses undermined the performance of the conglomerate during the period.