LAGOS — Africa’s largest money manager and Nigeria’s pension fund administrators have applied for close to $1 billion of shares in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, according to people familiar with the transaction cited by Bloomberg.
South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which oversees almost $220 billion in assets including state workers’ pensions, asked for about $500 million of shares, the report said. Nigerian pension fund administrators applied for $400 million to $500 million, part of which was covered by an earlier private placement. Neither the PIC nor the refinery has publicly confirmed the figures.
Applications, not allocations
The numbers represent demand, not shares received. The offer was heavily oversubscribed, and Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission must approve the basis of allotment before shares are distributed and excess funds refunded, Business Insider Africa noted.
The refinery offered about 4.1 billion new shares at ₦525 each, worth roughly ₦2.15 trillion before any over-allotment. It received applications of about ₦5.85 trillion from nearly 3.8 million investors, close to three times the amount sought, according to the same report. News24, also citing Bloomberg, said roughly $1.9 billion of interest came from Nigeria and $2.1 billion from international investors.
Because demand exceeds even the upsized offer, Dangote could sell part of his own stake to meet institutional demand, the people said. No decision on such a secondary sale has been announced, and Dangote is expected to keep control after the listing.
A one-off pension waiver
Nigerian pension funds could bid only because the National Pension Commission (PenCom) granted a special exemption in May. Under normal rules, pension money can go into a company’s shares only if it has recorded taxable profits in at least three of the past five years and paid dividends or bonus shares, requirements the refinery does not yet meet. PenCom said the waiver applies only to this IPO and that administrators must still follow their own risk and fiduciary rules, Gazette Nigeria reported. The contributory pension system covers about 11 million members across 20 funds.
Timeline
- The offer opened on 14 September and closed on 27 October.
- SEC sign-off on the allotment is expected on 17 November.
- Trading on the Nigerian Exchange could start around 8 December, subject to approvals, according to Ghanamma, citing Bloomberg.
Proceeds are expected to support plans to expand the Lagos refinery from about 650,000 barrels a day to 1.4 million barrels a day by 2029, Business Insider Africa reported.
What it means for African readers
The PIC’s bid is a rare example of one African country’s retirement savings flowing into another’s flagship industrial asset at scale. If allocations are confirmed, the listing could become a test case for cross-border African capital markets.
For Nigerian workers, the waiver means some pension savings may be tied to a single, still-young company. Contributors may want to ask their administrators how much they bid and how that fits their risk limits. Retail applicants should watch the SEC allotment notice to see how many shares they actually receive and when refunds will be paid.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
