The Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) has perfected plans to buy out minority shareholders to focus on strengthening its position as the future of African food businesses.

Boye Olusanya, the group managing director, stated that the company has received approval from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with the purchase.

FMN disclosed on Tuesday that the buyout would be executed through a scheme of arrangement, supervised by relevant regulatory bodies.

According to Olusanya, this move aligns with FMN’s goal to become the leading Pan-African food business, improving its ability to innovate and grow, while focusing on long-term value for stakeholders.

He said the buyout would enhance FMN’s operational efficiency and decision-making agility.

The company plans to apply to the Federal High Court for approval to convene a shareholders’ meeting, where the resolution to buy out minority shareholders will be discussed.

Olusanya said the resolution would pass if at least 75% of shareholders, either in person or by proxy, approve it at the Court-Ordered Meeting (COM). FMN’s board has already recommended the offer to shareholders, citing the buyout’s potential advantages for innovation and sustainable growth.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BUA Foods Plc, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has revealed plans to expand the pasta production unit of the company.

Investors King gathered that the planned expansion comes weeks after Nigeria’s second richest man experienced a $1.1 billion decline in his net worth in 90 days.

The depreciation in Rabiu’s wealth was largely attributed to the depreciation of the naira and fluctuations in equity values.

However, after signing an agreement with FAVA (Italy), one of the world’s leading pasta equipment manufacturing companies, BUA Foods renewed its planned expansion.

Rabiu announced the expansion in a statement signed on Wednesday by BUA Foods Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Adewunmi Desalu.

According to him, the planned expansion is aimed at assisting the government in battling the ongoing food shortage in the country.

He noted that the expansion will give room for growth, adding that the company will be able to introduce new innovations.

The statement read, “Our manufacturing capacity expansion will continue to enable us to extend the boundaries of what we can produce and deliver, supporting our nation’s development by providing solutions to ongoing food shortages.”

“In addition to producing more pasta, we’ll be able to introduce new innovations to support mixed volume growth, while consistently delivering the unrivalled product quality our customers expect.

“The additional 100,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity will enable us to meet the growing demand for our products while strengthening the backbone of our food processing operations by ensuring a reliable and consistent supply of raw materials.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has addressed the recent disagreement involving his refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the price of petrol in Nigeria.

In an interview on Monday, Dangote disagreed with NNPCL over claims that it purchased petrol at a high rate from the refinery.

Investors King reported that Aliko Dangote had urged the President Bola Tinubu-led government to eliminate fuel subsidies and allow the Dangote Refinery to address Nigeria’s petroleum issues, particularly the high consumption rates that have turned the nation into an importer of most goods.

However, while sharing his thoughts on the petrol pricing concerns, the businessman stated that the refinery’s petrol was sold to NNPCL at a price lower than what the company imported.

Dangote revealed that what transpired was not a disagreement, adding that NNPCL announced a different petrol price to Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Dangote did not mention the exact price at which the product was sold.

According to him, “What’s going on is not really a disagreement per se. NNPC bought this particular one from us on the 15th of September at an international price. They also imported over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline.

“The ones they bought from us were actually cheaper than the ones they imported. So when they announced our price, it wasn’t really the real price. What they announced was likely what it cost them, including profits and other things. Meanwhile, they’ve never added profit to their cost before.

“And then, the other one is what they imported, but people don’t know how much they spent on importing. Their own importation was about fifteen to 20 percent more expensive than ours. What they do first is to sell at a basket price. If they want to remove subsidies, they can announce that they’ve removed the subsidy. Everybody will adjust,” he said.