Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V, the majority shareholder of Unilever Nigeria, has increased its stake at its Nigerian subsidiary with the purchase of over 17m additional shares on August 10, 2020.
This was disclosed in a notification sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange by Abidemi Ademola, the general counsel/secretary of the food and personal care products manufacturer.
Insider disclosures are reported on the NSE as a regulatory requirement, especially when a major shareholder or director of a publicly quoted company purchases its shares.
The acquisition of the additional shares adds substantially to Unilever Overseas’ investment in the company. Prior to this time, it is already the single largest investor with over 70 per cent shareholding in the company.
Analysis of this current acquisition shows that Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V. increased its stake in the firm with the purchase of 17,023,490 ordinary shares at N12 per share. The purchase consideration for this transaction, which was done on the floor of the NSE, is approximately N204.3m.
Unilever Nigeria closed at N13 per share on Friday, August 14, on the floor NSE with a market capitalisation of about N71.81bn.
The multinational firm has about 5.75bn outstanding shares with Unilever Overseas Holding B.V. as the majority shareholder.
Insider purchases are usually an indication of how shareholders perceive the company’s growth. It could also mean possible capital raise towards the strengthening of their existing holdings and some other things.
Unilever Nigeria, which specialises in the manufacturing and marketing of food and care products, has been experiencing turbulent times, as having faced the harsh business environment in recent times.
In its recently released half-year unaudited financial result for 2020, its revenue dropped to N14bn from N23.4bn that was recorded for the corresponding period in 2019.
