Miller Magazine Issue: 113 May 2019

18 NEWS MAY 2019 Olam set to acquire Nigeria’s Dangote Flour Mills Singapore-based commodity trader, Olam Internatio- nal, said it will buy Nigeria’s Dangote Flour Mills for an enterprise value of 130 billion naira ($362 million), as it looks to bolster its position in West Africa wheat market. The price was calculated on a debt-free basis, and will be adjusted to account for net borrowings, the Nigerian company said in a statement. The company said that the offer was subject to, amongst other things, shareholders’ approval, regulatory approvals, the sanctions of the Fede- ral High Court. Lagos-based Dangote Flour Mills is part of the business empire of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man. The busi- nessman’s holding company, Dangote Industries Ltd., also agreed to invest 10 billion naira in DFM as part of that deal. Aliko has a net worth of $16.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. The move sees Olam going back to its roots. The com- pany was founded in Nigeria as an exporter of cashew nuts 30 years ago, and has since grown into a global be- hemoth with operations in more than 60 countries and a market value of $4.5 billion. The deal will enable it to build on a country workforce of almost 3,000, while tap- ping local demand for bakery, snacks and pasta products. “We are confident about the growth prospects in this country and this acquisition, doubling our installed capa- city here, is evidence of our long-term commitment to the Nigerian economy,” K.C. Suresh, head of Olam’s grains and animal feed division, told Bloomberg. The acquisition is also part of a strategic shift toward areas that offer the most demand, including flour milling in West Africa. Nuts, cotton and tropical spices have also been earmarked for expansion, Olam said in January, while the company will exit commodities such as sugar and rubber. Tiger Brands, a South African firm had in 2012 bought a 63 per cent stake in Dangote Flour and pasta maker, but few years down the line the Dangote Group bought back the company after the new owners sustained losses repeatedly on its operations. Olam International Limited, a Singaporean agro-allied company, offers to acquire Dangote Flour Mill in a bid worth $362 million.