PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc’s board of directors has raised the offer price for the proposed buyback of the company’s shares from minority shareholders from N21 to N23 per unit.
The Punch reported that the new offer was mentioned in the most recent update on the situation, which was sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday.
PZ Cussons has been operating in Nigeria since 1899.
PZ Cussons Nigeria stated back in September that PZ Cussons (Holdings) Limited, the company’s principal stakeholder, had made an offer to buy out other shareholders’ shares.
“The Board of Directors of PZCN has duly considered the offer with support from its advisers and an independent fairness opinion, and following discussions with the core shareholder, the offer price has been increased to N23 per share.” stated a part of the statement, which was signed by acting Company Secretary, Olubukola Olonade-Agaga.
“Therefore, the Board is happy to declare that it believes the offer to be fair value for the minority shareholders and urges them to accept it.”
When compared to the company’s share price of N17 on August 17, 2023, the last trading day before the offer date, the offer price of N23 offers a 35% premium.
The price of PZ Cussons’ equities on the NGX was N21.05 as of Thursday’s market closure.
The board also stated that it took into account the offer given the difficulties the company still has getting foreign exchange to pay its creditors and trade debts, particularly given its reliance on the PZ Cussons Group for financial help.
In the interim, the repurchase is supposed to be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations through a Scheme of Arrangement.
A general meeting of the company’s shareholders has been authorized by the Board, subject to a “No-objection” ruling from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a Federal High Court judgment authorizing the meeting.
The PZ Cussons Group felt that the transaction was required to enable them to significantly simplify and strengthen operations in Nigeria, creating the foundations for the Nigerian business to deliver against its strategy and build a more agile and innovative business, the company stated in its September notice on the share buyback.
