Shareholders of Eterna Make N17.5bn in Preline Takeover Deal

Preline Limited has completed the mandatory takeover of 1,300,000 worth N17.5 billion ordinary shares from other shareholders in Eterna Plc.

Eterna Plc confirmed the development in a filing at the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on seen by Business Metrics on Wednesday.

The company said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the takeover in April.

This followed the initial acquisition of 700 million units of the firm which gave Preline Limited a controlling stake of 61.08 percent.

This will increase based on the recent acquisition with Ripples Nigeria gathering that the acquisition of the 1.3 million shares cost Preline Limited N17.55 billion.

This platform had reported in August that the offer was made to comply with Part XII, Section 131(1)(a) of the ISA and Rule 445 of SEC’s Rules & Regulations which require Preline to make a mandatory takeover bid to other shareholders of Eterna Plc other than Preline Limited.

The acceptance period for the mandatory offer was between August 15 and September 5, although Eterna stated that the timeframe was subject to extension.

The statement read: “We wish to announce to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the general public that following the granting of the ‘Authority to proceed’ by the Securities and Exchange Commission and our earlier announcement dated 19th April 2022 in this regard, Preline Limited has notified Eterna Plc of the completion of the Mandatory Takeover of 1,300,000 ordinary shares equivalent to 0.10% equity stake in Eterna Plc from other shareholders at a price of N13.50 per share.

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