Preline woos Eterna Minority Shareholders To Give Up Stakes For N17.6m

Following its successful acquisition of majority stakes in Eterna Plc last November, Preline Limited has moved to further take over 1.3 million ordinary shares belonging to minority shareholders of the company.

Eterna, in a regulatory filing with the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) on Tuesday, signed by Mandella Golkus, the company secretary, stated that the deal which offers N13.50 per share with an aggregate value of N17.6 million, is equivalent to 0.10 per cent equity stake in Eterna.

Earlier in November 2021, Preline has acquired 794,969,774 shared of Eterna, representing 60.98 per cent of total ownership, making it the largest and majority shareholder of the company, thus triggering the mandatory tender offer (MTO) provisions of the Investment and Securities Act and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulations.

Eterna said: “We wish to announce to Nigerian Exchange Limited and the general public; that following the granting of the ‘Authority to proceed’ by SEC, Preline Limited has notified the Company of its intention to proceed with the takeover bid to acquire 1,300,000 ordinary shares equivalent to 0.10 per cent equity stake in Eterna Plc from other shareholders at a price of N13.50 per share.

“This notification is in fulfilment of our disclosure obligations in line with Regulatory guidelines and our corporate responsibility to our stakeholders.”

Eterna is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of lubricants and chemicals. It trades in crude and operate a network of filling stations. It nurses a plan is to further expand into the midstream and upstream of the energy sector.