Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has extended its N2.15 trillion initial public offering (IPO) by two weeks to October 27 to give more African investors more time to snap up shares.
The giant refinery, which set a target to attract 10 million retail investors, reported that subscriptions exceeded the original target by more than three times.
Chapel Hill Denham, the offer’s financial adviser, announced the extension on Monday, confirming that the offer for N4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 each remains open.
The extension, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), moves the closing date from October 13, allowing more time for investors in Nigeria and other African markets to participate in the offer.
The company is offering 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each. The IPO opened on September 14 and could raise about N2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) if fully subscribed.
Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, said the extension was not driven by a need to raise more money but by the company’s ambition to broaden ownership of the refinery across Africa.
‘The IPO is going very well. We will extend the closing date because we want more of our African brothers and sisters to participate,’ he told journalists at the refinery on Monday.
He said discussions with the Nairobi Securities Exchange had helped the company identify a way to facilitate participation by Kenyan investors, adding that it was seeking to replicate the arrangement with other African exchanges.
‘When it comes to the amount of money we originally intended to raise, we have already received subscriptions amounting to more than three or four times that figure,’ Dangote said. ‘So, it is not about the amount of money. It is about the number of people who will have the opportunity to participate in this offer.’
The company said the additional two weeks would allow it to expand distribution channels and develop cross-border investment arrangements, including depositary receipt programmes. The extension would also give prospective investors more time to complete account opening, identity verification and other regulatory requirements.
David Bird, managing director and chief executive officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, said the additional time would help extend the offer to more investors across the continent.
‘From the outset, our ambition has been to enable as many people as possible to participate in the IPO and share in DPRP’s future growth,’ Bird said.
The extension comes as regulators and market institutions in several African countries work on ways to connect local investors to the Nigerian offer.
In Kenya, the Capital Markets Authority has approved a short-form prospectus for a global depositary receipt (GDR) arrangement submitted by Renaissance Capital Kenya. The proposed structure would allow eligible investors to gain exposure to the refinery through instruments representing underlying shares held in custody in Nigeria, subject to the relevant approvals.
An information memorandum cited in the supplied material says the Kenyan programme involves about 729 million GDRs priced at 53.50 Kenyan shillings each, targeting approximately 39 billion shillings, or $300.4 million. The structure and its final approval status should be confirmed against the latest offer documents before publication.
Rwanda is also facilitating access through United Capital Financial Services Rwanda, which is helping interested investors register their interest in the Nigerian offer.
Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority has also approved the marketing of the offer to high-net-worth individuals and professional investors following an application submitted on behalf of the refinery by Stanbic IBTC Capital.