Nestlé S.A invests N147.8 million in shares of its Nigerian subsidiary

The consumer goods giant, Nestlé S.A has invested an additional N147.8 million in shares of its Nigerian Subsidiary (Nestlé Nigeria Plc).

This disclosure was made by Nestlé Nigeria Plc, in a notification issued and signed by the Company’s Secretary, Bode Ayeku.

Mr. Ayeku disclosed that Nestlé S.A acquired the additional 105,569 units of Nestle Nigeria Plc shares in three transactions on the floor of the NSE, at an average share price of N1,400 per share.

According to the notification issued by the Company’s Secretary, Nestlé S.A purchased the ordinary shares of Nestlé Nigeria Plc in this order:

• On 11th December, 63,700 additional shares of Nestlé Nigeria Plc at a price of N1,400.00 per share were purchased.
• On 12th December, 41,869 additional shares of Nestlé Nigeria Plc at a price of N1,400.00 per share were purchased.

This puts the total consideration for the shares purchased by the parent company at N147,796,600.00

What you should know

• Prior to the recent purchases, notifications issued by the Company’s Secretary on, 2nd, 4th and 9th December 2020, revealed that the parent company acquired additional shares of 253,965, 433,529 and 80,448 respectively, between 30th November and 9th December. This brings the additional shares purchased over this period to 767,942 ordinary shares.
• On the 29th of November 2020 reported that Nestlé S.A purchased a total of 666,596 additional shares of its Nigerian subsidiary, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, in a deal worth N933.95 million.

What this means

• The purchase of the shares of Nestlé Nigeria further cements the position of Nestlé S.A’s as the majority shareholder of the company.
• In line with the information contained in the financial statements of the company as of 30th September 2020, the company has 792,656,252 shares outstanding, with Nestlé S.A being the majority shareholder (525,537,201 units) – 66.30% of the total shares of the company outstanding.
• Hence, with the previous acquisitions and the recent acquisition of 105,569 additional units, Nestlé S.A’s ownership percentage of Nestlé Nigeria is now put at 66.50%.

Why it matters

Dealings by insiders of listed companies are corporate actions to be disclosed, as required by the Nigerian Stock Exchange to aid transparency.