From Abubakar Yunusa, ABUJA
Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP), the core shareholder of Oando Plc, is taking the energy firm private more than three decades after the driller listed in Lagos as a public firm.
Wale Tinubu, Oando’s chief executive officer, holds a 66.7 per cent stake in OODP, where he is a non-executive director, while his deputy Omamofe Boyo, owns the remaining 33.3 per cent.
Mr Boye is also a non-executive director at OODP.
Oando said in a Thursday statement it is in receipt of an offer from its majority shareholder to procure the shares of all its minority shareholders at a premium of 58 per cent to its share prices on 28 March.
Shares in the company had jumped by roughly 10 per cent (the maximum daily gain allowed by the Nigerian Exchange) to N5.40 per unit at 11:13 WAT in Lagos. That is the highest level since 15 July, 2022.
“Each Scheme Shareholder shall be entitled to receive the sum of N7.07 in cash or its equivalent in South African Rand (ZAR) for every ordinary share held by the qualified Scheme Shareholders at the Effective Date of the Scheme,” Oando said in the document announcing the proposal.
The premium translates to about N37.5 billion for the minority shares listed on the NGX alone, totalling 5.3 billion shares in all.
The move will take Oando off the daily official list of the NGX and delist it from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, where it has a secondary listing.
Last month, billionaire oilman and chairman of Ardova Plc, Abdulwasiu Sowami offered minority shareholders in the oil & gas firm premiums of 22.4 per cent and 24.9 per cent, summing up to N16.9 billion in a bid to take the company private.
Oando said it has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a “No Objection” to the transaction and will seek approval of shareholders at a planned court-ordered meeting.
