The Nation Newspaper

Tag: merger

  • Flour Mills notifies NSE on merger

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc has notified that its board and that of the Niger Mills Company Limited, have been in discussions and negotiations with regard to merging their respective businesses.

    Report from the Exchange stated that the proposed Scheme of Merger will be undertaken pursuant to Part XII of the Investment and Securities Act No. 29 of 2007.

    Flour Mills currently holds 99.97 per cent equity in Niger Mills and the proposed merger will facilitate the consolidation of the companies’ operations and processes into a single enlarged entity.

    However, the proposed merger, according to the notification, is expected to build a more efficient company, positioned to create potential savings through the optimisation of overhead costs, particularly administrative costs relating to maintaining two distinctive entities.

    The report said the merger will be achieved by the transfer of all of the assets, liabilities and undertaking of Niger Mills to Flour Mills, in exchange for which ordinary shares of Flour Mills will be issued to the minority shareholders of Niger Mills or alternatively a cash consideration in lieu of the allotment of the said Flour Mills shares be made to the minority shareholders. Upon the Scheme becoming effective, all shares held in Niger Mills shall be cancelled.

    The Board of Flour Mills believes that the enlarged Entity will consolidate Flour Mills’ leading position in the flour milling industry, accessing positive economies of scale and realizing significant synergies through enhanced operational and administrative efficiency and a unified product delivery platform, and thereby providing immense benefits to the shareholders and customers of Flour Mills.

    The Federal High Court has directed that separate meetings of the shareholders of the merging entities be convened at a Court Ordered Meeting scheduled to hold on 20th February, 2012; at Zinia Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos by 10.00 a.m. Entitled to attend and vote at the meeting are those shareholders, whose names appear on the Register of members on 29th January, 2013, the report added.

    Meanwhile, trading on the floor of the NSE in the last one week of four trading sessions saw a turnover of 2.612 billion shares worth N19.152 billion in 27,186 deals in contrast to a total of 3.259 billion shares valued at N21.636 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 34,651 deals.

    The Financial Services sector was the most active accounting for 1.969 billion shares valued N11.081 billion carried out in 16,303 deals.

    The top three sectors represented by the Financial Services, Consumer Goods and Services sectors accounted for 2.353 billion shares valued at N16.900 billion traded in 21, 988 deals, thus accounting for 90.06 per cent, 88.24 per cent and 80.88 per cent, of the volume, value and number of deals respectively.

    Also traded last week was 196 units of New Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) valued at N504,481 which exchanged hands in four deals in contrast to a total of 565 units valued at N1.440 billion transacted last week in fourdeals. There were no transactions through the stock market in the FGN Bonds, State/Local Government Bonds and Corporate Bonds/Debentures sectors.

    The NSE All-Share Index appreciated by 2.12 per cent to close Friday at 31,583.49 while the market capitalization of the listed equities also appreciated by 2.12 per cent to close at N10.103 trillion.

    Likewise all the NSE sectorial indices appreciated: the Bloomberg NSE 30, Bloomberg NSE Consumer Goods, Bloomberg NSE Banking, Bloomberg NSE Insurance, Bloomberg NSE Oil/Gas and NSE Lotus II appreciated by 2.41 per cent 0.06 per cent, 1.41 per cent, 1.26 per cent, 1.20 pet cent and 3.26 per cent respectively.

     

  • ACN/CPC merger is hope for new Nigeria

    ACN/CPC merger is hope for new Nigeria

    SIR: If everything goes as planned with the proposed merger between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Nigeria may be on the way to greatness from 2015.

    An attempt was made in 2011 to confront the arrogance and impunity of the ruling party, PDP but the efforts were not sufficient to checkmate the moles and blacklegs who put spanners in the works. That inability to drive the merger got Nigeria into another big mess for another four years. We have been paying the price of our lack of commitment since 2011.

    ACN has put together a 19-man committee of decent men and women to work with committees of the other parties to produce a blueprint for the real merger. There is little doubt about the potentials of this merger that is leaving the PDP deeply troubled.

    After 16 years of confused and inept leadership, Nigeria needs a change of leadership to move forward. After 16 years of waste, we need real men among men to be in the driver’s seat. After 16 years of foolishness and selfishness in governance at the highest level in Nigeria, Nigerians need a break. Nigeria needs a recreation. Nigeria needs reinvention. Nigeria needs rehabilitation for it has been wrecked in 16 years of recklessness, corruption, impunity and incompetence.

    Let the committee members of the various opposition parties realise that Nigeria is at cross roads and therefore make conscious and spirited efforts to make their own history. Mindful of the need to sustain the argument that history remembers only the winners and that leaders make decisions that create the future they desire, I urge the committee members to declare war on those who throw big stones on the project Nigeria. Men among men who can make the difference here in Nigeria are not in short supply. They live with us. They see our problems and they have solutions to those problems. History beckons on them. More than half of the country’s eligible voters do not vote because they do not believe in the process. They are undecided voters. The people get the kind of leaders they deserve. In 2015 Nigerians must take a stand for change. All must endorse the merger plan for the change that we all need. Yes, real endorsement is the right word. We must be mindful that this is our last chance to pull the chestnut out of a raging fire and we cannot afford to miss this golden opportunity. We will continue to suffer the rule of idiots if we fail again to do what is right.

    • Joe Igbokwe

    Lagos

  • Merger: NANS appeals to Amosun

    Merger: NANS appeals to Amosun

    The president-elect of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Yinka Gbadebo, has appealed to the government of Ogun State to reconsider its earlier decision to merge the state-owned Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.

    Gbadebo made this known in a statement last week at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. He said the new leadership of NANS was compelled to make a plea as part of its commitment to the struggle for quantitative and qualitative education in Nigeria.

    He said the national leadership of the students’ body believed that the first step towards the resolution of any crisis should be dialogue, appealing to Governor Ibikunle Amosun to reconsider the decision to scrap TASUED.

    His words: “From the available statistics, Ogun State produces about 55,000 pupils at the secondary school level, which naturally cannot be effectively admitted by the available tertiary institutions in the state, hence the need to establish more tertiary institutions and the need to strengthen the existing ones.”

    “The institution in question, according to the NUC, ranks as one of the best universities in Nigeria. Tai Solarin University of Education is also the only university that specialises in the training of professional teachers in Nigeria.”

    He said the dissolution of the “great university of qualitative education delivery” in Nigeria may deal a great blow and entrench a loophole in the admission opportunity for the young school leavers in the state.

    “We recommended that a great future development facility and asset like TASUED can be the future security of an average Ogun State student for qualitative education at university level. With due respect to the office of the governor, we believe the committee’s recommendation to merge the school with OOU will not do the state any good,” he stated.

  • Shekarau: merger talks will succeed

    The presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2011 general elections, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, yesterday assured Nigerians that the merger talks among opposition parties would succeed.

    Shekarau, a former Kano State governor, spoke at the Southwest meeting of the National Rebuilding, Inter-party Committee on Merger Plans of the party in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. He is the chairman of the committee.

    He said the three leading opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and ANPP have gone half way in their agreements, in view of the commitment they have been showing on the merger plans.

    Shekarau, who is leading the ANPP committee in the merger talks with other parties, said the move is not just about dislodging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of its name, but to come up with a party that would offer good governance, which PDP lacks.

    Said he: “This idea is not about merging to dislodge the PDP, but to provide good governance. We just don’t want to dislodge the PDP; it is about its policies and programmes. For instance, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) and forced states to adopt it. But the late Umaru Yar’adua, his successor, abandoned it and began the Seven-point Agenda. Again, President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also a PDP member, jettisoned that and introduced the Transformation Agenda.

    “The merger is about dislodging people who do not understand Nigeria. People who are inconsistent and people who run disjointed programmes and policies. So, it is a new party, programmes and identity. It’s a serious matter. We will agree on a common focus.”

    The former governor said the three leading opposition parties are at an advanced stage in their discussions, adding that “this merger will work.”

    According to him, what has been happening on the political scene since independence have been alliances.

    Said he: “This is a true merger that will see the three opposition parties fusing into a new party that will be a solid platform to win elections.”

  • ‘Opposition parties’ merger to be concluded by March’

    ‘Opposition parties’ merger to be concluded by March’

    Ex-Yobe State Governor and member of the reconstituted merger committee of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, yesterday said the deadline for the merger by the opposition parties to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election is next March.

    He said the merger would not fail as many are insinuating.

    Ibrahim spoke in Abuja at an interactive session with selected media on the Grassroots Leadership Quality in Africa award to be given to him by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in South Africa on January 30.

    He said: “The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has appointed its team, ANPP has appointed its own and I’m part of the committee. We have met several times here. We have even toured the zones. We have toured the North- central. We are meeting our supporters in the North-central in Lafia. We have addressed them and they cheered us on what we’re doing. We were in Enugu (Southeast) for a day. We shall visit other zones.

    “Before next March, we shall have an accord on this merger. This is the deadline for the merger. ACN is doing a similar thing. The party I’m not too sure of what it is doing is the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). But I learnt it is also meeting to set up its committee. From all indications, the opposition parties are looking forward to forming a new party where they will come together as one entity. We are discussing with the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) through Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, on joining the coalition.

    “We are also hoping that a caucus of the Labour Party will join us to form a new party. This plan appears to be more popular than any other arrangement and I believe there is still time to register the new party.”

    On who will be the presidential candidate after the merger, Senator Ibrahim said: “Well, in politics, who gets what is always important. But the most important thing for now is not who gets what but for us to get together, merge, get a new arrangement, under which anybody can look for whatever he wants.

    “Since we are all in the opposition and we have been calling ourselves members of the progressives, we will join hands with others on the other side, the conservatives, to confront the PDP. I think it is healthy for our democracy to have at least two strong political parties. I’m convinced this experiment will work this time round.”

  • ‘Merger’ll end PDP’s bad leadership’

    A group, the Merger Support Group (MSG), has backed the proposed merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), among others, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    It noted that the merger would end the maladministration of the country by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and usher in the progressives in 2015.

    The pro tem National Chairman of the group, Alhaji Farouq Hassan Mohammed, told reporters yesterday in Kano that the ongoing merger talks by the political parties would challenge the dominant ruling party.

    Rising from its monthly meeting in Kano, Hassan said the merger talks should not be allowed to collapse.

    According to him, this is because the ruling PDP has plunged the country into a political quagmire that has resulted in insecurity challenges and corruption among government officials.

    Hassan said there has been a lack of purposeful leadership in the country, adding that the late former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Patrick Oweye Aziza, corroborated this fact at a public function.

    The politician said the PDP caused most of Nigeria’s problems.

    He said there should be concerted efforts to actualise the merger talks so that it would be easy to dislodge the PDP and replace it with a purposeful government in 2015.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Merger talks will solve Nigeria’s political problems – Onu

    Merger talks will solve Nigeria’s political problems – Onu

    The National Chairman, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the merger talks between opposition political parties would “definitely” solve the political problems facing Nigeria, when concluded.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Emma Eneukwu in Kaduna, on Monday.

    The statement said that Onu expressed the optimism when he led a delegation of ANPP leaders on a condolence visit to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, over the death of his daughter.

    ‘‘The merger talks are ongoing right now, and we hope that it will be successful. We want to give Nigeria effective political competition in the political arena.

    “We are convinced that when we have this in the country, we will be better for it. Many of the problems that have confronted the nation over the years shall be solved,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the ANPP chairman as saying during the visit.

    Onu urged the Federal Government to tackle insecurity, unemployment and poverty, adding that “these are serious problems that should not be in our land.”

     

  • 2015: Merger ‘ll solve Nigeria’s political crisis, says Onu

    2015: Merger ‘ll solve Nigeria’s political crisis, says Onu

    The National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said the merger talks among opposition political parties are at a critical stage, and will solve Nigeria’s political problems when concluded.

    He was answering questions from reporters in Kaduna when he led a delegation of the ANPP leaders, who visited former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on the death of his daughter.

    Onu said: “The merger talks are ongoing. By the grace of God, it will be successful. We want to give Nigeria an effective competition in the political arena. We believe that competition, which is good in the social and economic arena, is also good in the political arena.

    “We are convinced that when we have this in the country, we will be better off. Many of the problems that have confronted the nation over the years will be solved. We are hopeful that once we come together and form a government, all the problems will be solved. I believe nobody is happy about what is happening in the nation today. That is, insecurity, unemployment, poverty and others. These are problems that should not arise. We are sure we will solve these problems.”

    According to a statement issued in Abuja by the ANPP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, on the delegation were former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, former Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman, Gambo Magaji, National Secretary, Alhaji Tijani Musa Tumsah, National Women Leader, Hajiya Ramatu Tijani, National Financial Secretary, Hajiya Fatima Mohammed and Deputy Chairman, ANPP BOT, Rear Admiral Amosun (rtd).

  • ACN merger will aid Igbo presidency, says Udenwa

    A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and former Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa has expressed optimism that the merger between the party and other opposition parties would help the realisation of Igbo Presidency.

    The former governor told The Nation that the ambition to produce an Igbo president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a pipe dream.

    He said the Southeast should embrace the merger of the opposition parties to pursue this objective.

    According to him, the ACN is the only party that is sincere and respects the ambitions of members, irrespective of their religion and ethnicity.

    Udenwa said: “We can’t realise the Igbo presidency under the PDP. We need to throw our weight behind the ACN and its merger with other opposition parties as a strong platform to pursue our aspirations. Most importantly, there is need for the zone to come together and form a strong front that will champion the agitation.”

  • ‘Forced merger for tier 2 banks likely’

    ‘Forced merger for tier 2 banks likely’

    Nigeria’s smaller banks may be forced to consolidate to compete with the biggest institutions, Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, has said.

    According to Bloomberg report, Nigerian banks have reported rising profits and loan growth this year. “The largest banks are moving forward at a fast pace to strengthen their position, so smaller banks may not have any other choice but to merge or acquire,” Mobius, who oversees about $45 billion, said. According to him, there is a possibility of further consolidation in the banking sector although he failed to identify any banks that may combine.

    He said the growth of the industry comes after Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Lamido Sanusi fired the chief executive officers of eight of the country’s 24 lenders in 2009 and bailed them out with 620 billion ($4 billion) because loans by banks to equity speculators and fuel importers had pushed the industry to the verge of collapse. The government then set up Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to buy bad debts from the country’s banks.

    He said that most banks have swung back to profit after selling their bad debts and are set to benefit from an economy forecast by the government to grow 6.5 per cent next year, the same pace as it expects this year.

    He said that Bloomberg NSE Banking Index, which tracks Nigeria’s 10 biggest banks by market value has advanced 60 per cent this year, compared with the 31 per cent rise of the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index. Templeton holds shares in Nigerian lenders including Guaranty Trust, Zenith Bank, Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and First Bank of Nigeria Plc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

    “We are not reducing,” said Mobius. “We are long-term holders.” Templeton is also considering buying shares in Kenyan banks to “get exposure to the entire Kenyan economy, which we see growing at a healthy pace,” Mobius said.

    He said that Kenyan banks are attractive to international investors because their practices, capital adequacy and other ratios are fundamentally good. “Given the generally low penetration of banking services throughout the country there are excellent prospects for growth,” Mobius said. “We see continued growth in the next 10 years.” Increased capital requirements in Nigeria and other African countries are “quite positive,” he said.

    Kenya, Ghana, Gambia and Zambia increased minimum capital requirements for foreign lenders in the past 12 months. Banks must obtain new funds to re-capitalise their foreign units and won’t be allowed to use money already raised by their parent companies, the CBN said in a statement published on its website on July 26.