Dangote shops for additional N300b to finance refinery

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) at the weekend opened an application list to raise up to N300 billion in medium-term debt funding from the Nigerian capital market.

The money is to finance the Dangote Petroleum Refinery being built in Lagos and due for completion in the first quarter of next year.

The firm, through a special purpose vehicle fund. Dangote Industries is offering two tranches of bonds to raise up to N150 billion, with a provision to scale up to the full size of its N300 billion registered bond issuance programme.

The book building- a register for prospective investors- for the N300 billion bond issuance is scheduled to close Thursday.

DIL is the sponsor of the bond issuance with Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited and Dangote Fertiliser Limited as co-obligors. Dangote is rated AA+ by GCR and AA (ngr) by Fitch.

The net proceeds of the bond issue will be used to further finance the group’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery project, which is scheduled to commence operations in the first half of 2023.

Dangote is offering a seven-year, fixed-rate senior unsecured bond with a pricing range of between 12.25 per cent and 12.75 per cent, maturing in 2029.

13.00 per cent and 13.50 per cent and a maturity date of 2032. The coupon for the bond will be paid on a semi-annual basis.

The minimum subscription to the offer is 10,000 units at N1,000 per unit, representing a minimum subscription value of N10 million and thereafter in multiples of N1,000.

After the completion of the issue, the bond will be listed on FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited and Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Dangote Industries is a widely diversified and fully integrated conglomerate with operations in Nigeria and other African countries. The group’s portfolio spans some 11 distinct business lines across a wide range of industries, including cement, sugar, salt, condiments, packaging, energy, fertiliser and petrochemicals.  Three business lines-cement, sugar and salt businesses currently contribute a majority of the group earnings and are industry leaders.

In March 2022, Dangote Fertilizer’s plant was commissioned with a production capacity of 3.0 million metric tons of urea and ammonia per annum. The oil refinery is projected with an Installed Capacity of 540,000 barrels per day.

Dangote Cement Plc, the current flagship of the group, grew its turnover by 33.8 per cent to N1.38 trillion in 2021. Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer, Dangote Cement has an installed capacity of 45.6 metric tonnes per annum across 10 African countries.(The Nation)