Eterna Plc (NSE: ETERNA) has informed the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Investing public of a major divestment by substantial shareholders of the company.
In the publication seen by Investogist posted on the NSE website the Company stated that some of its substantial shareholders have formally informed the Board of Eterna Plc that they are in negotiations to sell equity holdings in the Company to a “New Investor”.
As part of the process of the prospective sale, the proposed New Investor had undertaken to carry out due diligence exercise on the Company. The Board of Eterna Plc has reviewed the request for due diligence and approved same at its meeting held on Monday, 21st December 2020.
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The notification given to The Exchange is in fulfilment of the obligations of Eterna Plc to report such matters and the Board promised to continue doing so in with the guidelines. The notification went further to state that the Company is yet to have full details of the transaction as it is shareholders driven transaction.
Eterna Plc has a total of 1.304 billion outstanding shares, with only two shareholders holding 430.146 million (32.98%) of these shares. A further review of the shareholding structure show that twenty-three shareholders own 70.83% of the total outstanding shares.
According to the register of the shareholders as at 31 December 2019 as stated in the Company’s Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31 December 2019, four shareholders of the Company held more than 5% of the issued share capital;
- Lenux Integrated Resources Limited held 250.156 million shares, representing 19.18%
- Global Energy Engineering & Raw Materials Limited held 179.990 million shares, representing 13.80%
- Radix Trustees Limited held 73.625 million shares representing 5.65%
- Meristem Stockbrokers Limited held 67.000 million shares representing 5.14%
The notification on the divestment did not specify the substantial shareholders that have taken the decision to divest from the company.
About Eterna Plc
Eterna Plc (the Company) was incorporated in Nigeria as a private limited liability Company in 1989. In 1997, it became a public Company. The Company’s shares which are currently quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were first listed in August 1998.
The Company is domiciled in Nigeria and the address of its registered office is: 5a Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Avenue (Formerly Second Avenue) Ikoyi Lagos.
The principal activities of the Company and its subsidiaries are trading in crude oil and Condensates; manufacturing, sale and distribution of lubricating oils and petrochemicals; Bulk import and retail distribution of Petroleum Products (including PMS, AGO, ATK LPFO, Base Oils, Bitumen etc.) and gas.
The company has a total of 26,465 shareholders, and a market capitalization of N5.346 billion.
Its share price at the time of this report is N4.10, with a 52 week high of N5.29 and a 52 week low of N1.80.
Eterna Plc has been underperforming in recent times, it reported a loss of N144.289 million for the full year ended 31 December 2019, against a profit of N1.008 billion for the full year ended 31 December 2018.
By; Nnamdi M.
