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Forte Oil takes new name Ardova Plc; other things you may need to know about new deal

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Forte Oil takes new name Ardova Plc; other things you may need to know about new deal

All things being equal, the sweeping corporate transformation process that saw Femi Otedola-led Forte Oil PLC lose ownership to new investors some five months ago will be consummated come 17th December this year as the firm proposes a new name. On the said date, the business name, Forte Oil will be discarded while Ardova PLC will be adopted in the spirit of the change.

According to a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, the oil and gas firm has scheduled an Extraordinary General Meeting for the above day, where the decision will be subjected to shareholders’ votes.

The quest began this June when Otedola sold his full stake in Forte Oil to Prudent Energy and Services Limited in a mind-blowing deal in the neighbourhood of N65 billion and delivered by astute energy mogul, Abdulwasiu Sowami. Put differently, 982.97 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, representing 74.02% of Forte Oil shares, exchanged hands in the process, readily qualifying Prudent Energy as the new majority shareholder.

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With that gesture, Mr. Otedola had exited the downstream sector completely and had since committed the proceeds of that transaction to investment in Geregu Power Plant, where he now holds sway as the chairman.

Towards the end of August, Prudent Energy’s pursuit of overwhelming stake in Forte Oil took an aggressive turn as it notified the Exchange of its intention to acquire new 500,000 units of the company’s shares, this time from minority shareholders. This translated to 0.04% of the firm’s common stocks in a move fronted by Ignites Investments and Commodities Limited, an affiliate of Prudent Energy.

The interim financial statements of Forte Oil for the period ended 30 September, 2019 as released last month revealed a 1,408% growth in after-tax profit under the new management from N348.73 million recorded in the corresponding period of last year to N5.26 billion.

The fifty five year old firm has completed five different cycles of acquisition by core investors from inception. It began originally as the Nigerian subsidiary of the global oil giant, British Petroleum with the name, African Petroleum (AP) in 1964.

 

 

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