AT THE DETRIMENT OF INVESTORS, DANGOTE CEMENT OFFLOADS SHARES IN BACKDOOR DEALS BELOW SEC QUOTED PRICES

LAGOS, Nigeria– Dangote Cement, the biggest cement company in Africa has been offloading its shares in back door deals below prices approved for them by the Security and Exchange Commission, SEC to the detriment of investors.

Traders told Reuters that some 550 million shares of Dangote Cement were sold at N225.7 each on Monday in a one-off stock market deal valued at $350 million.

According to the traders, it was a negotiated in a deal between the seller Meristem Stockbrokers Ltd and buyer CSL Stockbrokers Ltd against N238.99 quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, SEC by close of business on Monday.

The cement maker, according to Reuters sold 128.5 million shares at N210 each last month and sold a 2.3 percent stake to foreign investors in a deal valued at N86.1 billion in August.

The NSE allegedly waived its free float requirement when it listed Dangote Cement in 2010 in a bid to encourage more companies to list.