It appears that Dangote Cement Plc is revisiting its plan to raise fresh capital of $1 billion on the London Stock Exchange.
A source close to the company, who did not want to be named, said the company had approached investment bankers to discuss the potential of the United Kingdom listing.
“Once banks have been appointed, it will probably take at least five months to complete the process. The cement maker is also considering issuing a debut Eurobond. Fresh capital would enable Dangote Cement to fund expansion plans in sub-Saharan Africa and broaden its base of investors. It sees London as a more favourable place to attract about $1 billion than in its home base of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where no company has raised more in an initial public offering than Starcomms Plc’s $796 million in 2008,” the source said.
Recall that Dangote Cement has a free float in Lagos of 14.9 per cent and a market valuation of $12.3 billion. It 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
abandoned.
The revival of the plan comes as Dangote Cement’s 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 by 11 per cent this year in dollar terms, the sixth best performance globally, according to Bloomberg’s data.
