Dangote Cement Plc, a leading cement company founded by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, has announced the commencement of the second tranche of its share buyback program, as it moves to buy back one percent of its stake for N39.1 billion ($112.75 million) on the open market.
A press statement issued by the cement maker from its Victoria Island Office in Lagos, Nigeria, revealed that the second tranche will be executed based on the approval granted by the company’s shareholders at the annual general meeting to be held on May 26, 2022.
Under the second tranche, Dangote Cement will buy up to 170,003,074 fully paid-up ordinary shares, representing one percent of the company’s currently issued shares, less treasury shares.
The leading cement producer will also acquire 40,200,000 shares held as treasury shares.
The scheduled buyback activity will be executed by Meristem Stockbrokers Limited and Vetiva Securities Limited, the appointed stockbrokers of the company under the program.
The stockbrokers will at their discretion purchase Dangote shares in the open market between Jan. 19 and 20, subject to prevailing market conditions and under the current daily trading rules of the Nigerian Exchange.
Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement maker, with a production capacity of 48.6 million tonnes per year across 10 countries. As of press time, Jan. 12, its shares were trading at N275 ($0.668), 6.18-percent higher than their opening price on the exchange this morning.
In the first tranche of its share buyback program, the cement behemoth bought back shares worth N9.77 billion ($23.56 million).
Since the commencement of the share buyback program on Dec. 21, 2020, the company’s shares have soared from a price of N230.4 to N275 ($0.668) as of the time of writing this report.
In line with this, experts believe shares in the cement maker are up for a bullish run as the same trend is expected to play out. As a result, Dangote will see the value of his majority 87-percent stake in the cement maker surge.
In 2021, the billionaire businessman recorded a total $1.3-billion boost in his net worth thanks to a double-digit surge in the shares of his cement business.
