Dangote Cement seeks approval for merger

Lagos: Nigeria's biggest cement maker Dangote Cement said Tuesday it will seek shareholder approval this month for a merger with Benue Cement, a deal which could create one of the country's largest listed firms.

Dangote Cement, owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, plans to exchange one of its shares for every two shares in Benue, which had a market capitalisation of $1.67 billion (Dh6.1 billion) as of yesterday.

The new entity would then be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.The deal would be the first public new share offering in sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy since a stock market crash in 2008 and could produce one of the country's largest companies by market capitalisation.

Nigeria's stock index, the second biggest in sub-Saharan Africa, includes more than 200 companies with a total market capitalisation of 5.94 trillion naira ($146.8 billion), according to its website. Dangote Cement and Benue Cement took out notices in Nigeria's BusinessDay newspaper announcing the shareholders' meeting, ordered by a Lagos court, for September 28. Dangote Cement holds a 75 per cent stake in Benue, according to its annual report.