…16.19% shareholding remains untouched, BPE assures investors
The Senate Committee on Capital Market has summoned Lafarge Africa Plc to answer queries over its proposed divestment of 83.8% majority shares in the cement sector.
This is just as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) assured investors that the 16.19% shareholding owned by the Nigerian public in Lafarge is intact.
The probe is based on a Senate resolution passed on March 27, 2025 following the consideration of a motion on the alleged plan to sell Lafarge Africa Plc to Chinese investors.
Before issuing the summons, the Committee held an interactive session with representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
However, the Director General of SEC, Emmanuel Agama, represented by the Director of Securities and Investment Services, Abdulkafir Abbas, informed the committee that the Commission had not received any official filing regarding the proposed divestment.
He explained that the Commission had been informed of an internal restructuring within the Holcim Group, Lafarge Africa Plc’s majority shareholder.
“Holcim Group holds 83.81% of Lafarge Africa Plc’s issued share capital through the following wholly owned entities,” Abbas said.
“As part of the internal restructuring, the 27.77% equity stake held by Associated International Cement Limited was transferred to another Holcim-owned entity, Davis Peak Holdings Limited. There has been no change in the ultimate beneficial ownership of the shares as a result of this transaction.
“In light of the foregoing, the Commission wishes to clarify that no formal filing has been made with respect to any proposed sale of Lafarge Africa Plc to Chinese investors,” he added.
Also addressing the committee, Director of Post Transaction at the BPE, Satura Aisha Bello, clarified that the shares being considered for divestment belong to Lafarge Africa Plc and do not affect the 16.19% shareholding held by Nigerians.
She explained that the company, which is listed on the stock exchange, owns 83% of the total shares in the three cement companies formerly owned by the federal government and sold to it in 2001 and 2002, and that these actions have not impacted the 16.19% public shareholding.
But despite the clarifications, the Committee, chaired by Sen. Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West), resolved to summon Lafarge Africa Plc for further explanation on the planned divestment of its majority shareholding.
It further directed its clerk to write to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to obtain information on what Lafarge’s memorandum and articles of association state regarding shareholding divestments.
