Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc has officially cleared the path for a major corporate transformation, receiving unanimous shareholder approval to proceed with a comprehensive recapitalisation and strategic repositioning plan.
The approval, granted during the company’s 12th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos, marks a turning point for the firm as it pivots to become a specialised financial powerhouse for Africa’s critical minerals sector.
Under the approved resolutions, the company will rebrand as the Critical Minerals Financing Corporation Plc. This transition is designed to align the firm with the surging global demand for energy-transition metals, such as lithium, cobalt, and copper.
Speaking on the strategic shift, the chairman of Banklink Africa Group, the firm’s new core investor, Dr Israel Ovirih, emphasised the magnitude of this evolution: “A century ago, crude oil acreage owners and nations controlled the world. Today, corporations and nations with access to critical mineral deposits, including copper, lithium, cobalt, niobium and other rare earths, will control the new world. DeapCap will lead Africa in this new revolution.”
To support this ambition, shareholders approved an increase in the company’s share capital from N1.5 bn to N5.03 bn. This recapitalisation is bolstered by a strategic investment agreement with Banklink Africa Private Equity Limited, which has committed at least N3 bn in fresh equity to the firm.
Representing the company’s board at the AGM, Non-Executive Director Edmond Ani highlighted the company’s commitment to recovery and long-term value creation: “While dividend payments remain an important expectation for investors, management’s immediate focus is on stabilising operations and rebuilding the company after years of challenges.”
The restructuring efforts go beyond capital injection. The company has aggressively tackled its debt burden, successfully negotiating a settlement with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria that resolved outstanding liabilities, which had ballooned to over N1.8 bn, for a final payment of N400 m.
Furthermore, the firm has converted N2.03 bn in debt into equity. These combined measures are expected to shift the company’s balance sheet from a negative shareholders’ fund position of N2.75 bn in September 2022 to a positive position of approximately N2.37 bn by March 2026.
As part of the shift toward its new operational focus, the company is preparing to reconstitute its board. Existing directors are expected to step down to allow representatives from Banklink Africa and other new global investors to join, ensuring the leadership team possesses the specific expertise required for international mining finance.
The chairman of the company, Lamon Rutten, underscored the vast potential of this new trajectory: “Africa is a very wealthy continent in terms of resources… The potential is so large. Africa’s persistent gap between resource wealth and economic prosperity reflects a failure to capture value locally.”
The company confirmed that the share allotment process is currently underway and is expected to conclude before the end of the first quarter of 2026.
