Foreign core investor seeks to buy out 7-Up’s minority shareholders
Affelka SA, the foreign majority core investor in Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc, has launched a bid to buy all outstanding shares held by minority shareholders in the company, in a move reminiscent of a similar decision by its competitor, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC).
Regulatory filing yesterday showed that Affelka SA has secured initial regulatory approval to acquire all the “outstanding and issued shares of seven-Up Bottling Company that are not currently owned by Affelka”.
Affelka is offering N112.70 per share for the 171.54 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each held by the minority shareholders, representing 26.78 per cent of Seven-Up Bottling Company’s issued share capital. The bid price represents 15 per cent premium on the last traded share price of the company on August 9, 2017, the last business day prior to the date the proposal was received from Affelka SA by Seven-Up Bottling Company’s board.
According to the proposal, the acquisition would be carried out through a scheme of arrangement under Section 539 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and other applicable rules and regulations.
Already, Seven-Up Bottling Company has received the “No Objection” approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the scheme is still subject to the approval of the shareholders at a Court-Ordered Meeting as well as the approval of the Federal High Court.
The NBC had acquired minority shares and delisted from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) amidst protests by Nigerian retail shareholders.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had in October 2017 downgraded Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc from its special pricing status category following the depreciation in share price of the company.
The “high-priced stocks”, according to the NSE categorization, are stocks with share prices of N100 and above and regular and pre-determined level of activities. In 2012, the NSE had alongside the introduction of market-making introduced a pilot programme under which stockbrokers could move prices of “high priced stocks” with 10,000 shares as against the general operating rule of 50,000 shares for the movement of share prices of other stocks.
The NSE indicated that it downgraded Seven-Up Bottling Company from a “high-priced stock” category to the general stock category with effect from today, Monday October 23, 2017.
With the reclassification of Seven-Up Bottling Company from the “high-priced stocks” list, stockbrokers will only be able to move the share price of the company with 50,000 shares.
“We bring to your notice that 7up Bottling Plc has qualified to be reclassified from a high-price stock to a medium-priced stock, as the company’s shares hit below the N100 mark on 30 May 2017, and trades below N100 up till the close of business on 17 October 2017. This indicates that 7up Bottling Plc has traded below N100 in at least four out of the last six months. The stockbrokers will be able to move the price of 7up Bottling Plc with 50,000 units with effect from 23rd, October 2017,” the NSE stated. Source: Nation Online