Posted by By Ufomba Uzuegbu on
BARELY two weeks after its formal launch by President Olusegun Obasanjo, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) is bidding for the acquisition of the Eleme Petrochemical Company.
BARELY two weeks after its formal launch by President Olusegun Obasanjo, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) is bidding for the acquisition of the Eleme Petrochemical Company.
A source close to Dangote Group of Industries revealed to Business Champion that Transcorp, a mega company floated by some leading private sector operators, is however doing so in its capacity as a senior partner to Dangote Chemical Company Limited which is also bidding for the acquisition of the plant.
Transcorp was registered on November 17, 2004. It could not bid for Eleme Petrochemical Company directly because it was yet to be officially launched by President Obasanjo: The feeling, according to a source, was that it would be better to bid through one of its members which is Dangote Chemical Limited.
The Nigerian public is being offered 49 per cent of the shares to be sold in the petrochemical plant, while 51 per cent of the government's equity is expected to be sold to core investors.
Already, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has pre-qualified three companies, a local and two foreign firms, for the sale of the 51 per cent stake.
Those prequalified are Dangote Chemical Company, Limited, LG Chemical Limited, a subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea and Indorama Group, a multinational company.
Besides revamping the company's existing plants, the planned privatisation is expected to provide the resources needed for the completion of the two remaining three-stage expansion programme of the Petrochemical plant.
Another source disclosed that the second and third stages of the expansion would involve the establishment of process plants for the production of polyesters and polyvinyl chloride resins respectively.
Now that Transcorp has been launched by President Obasanjo, Dangote Chemicals is expected to inform the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) that it is standing in for Transcorp which is scheduled to raise N67 billion from the Nigerian public through Initial Public Offer (IPO) in the first quarter of 2006.
This would give Transcorp the financial muscle to outbid any competitor for Eleme Petrochemical plant.
Transcorp's focus areas are Oil and Gas, Agriculture and Agro Allied, Technology, Power and International Trade, all located in a Free Trade Zone/Industrial Park to take advantage of Federal Government incentives for export as well as to have access to port facilities.