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BUA Cement, which is majority-owned by one of Africa’s richest men, needs loans for expansion
BUA Cement PLC announced yesterday that it has gone into consultation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as it seeks to raise funds through a loan for expansion purposes.
In a corporate disclosure filed with the Nigerian Exchange, the company informed stakeholders that the anticipated loan would enable it to expand its production capacity from its current 2.0 million tons per annum to 8.0 million tons per annum. The statement did not mention how much the company is seeking to raise.
Also note that the loan would finance the development of other ancillary utilities, BUA Cement said.
Business Insider Africa gathered that the IFC, which specialises in advisory services and loan mobilisation, will arrange the deal alongside other yet-to-be-disclosed lenders.
“In furtherance of our disclosure obligations pursuant to Chapter 17 of the Rulebook , BUA CEMENT PLC (BUA CEMENT or the COMPANY) hereby notifies Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), its esteemed Shareholders and the investing public that the Company has gone into discussion with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), serving as lead arranger in conjunction with a number of other lenders in a syndication pool, to obtain a loan for the expansion of BUA Cement’s integrated cement plant in Kalambaina, Sokoto State, Nigeria which shall include increasing its capacity from 2.0 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 8.0 MTPA and the development of other ancillary utilities (the Expansion Project),” said part of the statement by BUA Cement.
Do note that BUA Cement’s total borrowings (asides issued debt instruments) is currently at $198.058 million (N82.3 billion), according to information obtained from its H1 2022 financial report.
The company is one of the largest cement makers in Africa’s largest economy (by GDP) and most populous country. It is also majority-owned by Abdulsamad Rabiu, one of Africa’s richest men with a net worth of $6.3 billion, as per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Checks by Business Insider Africa shows that Mr Rabiu owns about 56.2% stake in the Nigerian Exchange-listed company.
BUA Cement reported a profit after tax of $148 million (N61.3 billion) for the half-year period ended June 30th, 2022.
