Foreign Investors Buy Out Nigerian Shareholders In Seven-up

Seven-Up Bottling  Company Plc has received an offer from its majority shareholder, Affelka, a privately-owned Lebanese firm,  to buy out the minority shareholders for N19.33 billion ($60 million).Seven-Up said in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, yesterday that Affelka has offered to buy all the outstanding and issued shares of Seven-Up that it does not currently own, amounting to 171.5 million ordinary shares at N112.70 per share.

 

The offer price, according to the company, represents 15 percent premium of N98.00 per share, the last traded price on August 9, 2017, being the last business date the proposal was received from Affelka and 18 percent premium on N95.50, its closing price at the close of trading yesterday.

 

In his reaction, Sunil Sawhney, Vice Chairman, Seven-Up Bottling Company, said: “As of now, we have received an offer from the majority shareholder of the company. It’s a financial restructuring,”

 

He said the company has been making losses for some time, adding that the deal is aimed at restructuring the company.

 

Sawhney, who joined the company in a management change this year, said delisting Seven-Up from the stock exchange after the takeover would be “logical”. The takeover is subject to shareholders’ and regulatory approvals, he said.

 

The company’s profit started to decline in the first three months of 2015 and then posted its first loss in half-year 2016 and since then losses have widened.