Presco Plc has announced plans to acquire 100 per cent equity in Saro Oil Palm Limited for $46.71m, while seeking shareholder ratification of its earlier $124.93m acquisition of Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Limited.
The transactions will be presented for approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for August 19 in Lagos.
In an explanatory statement filed on the Nigeria Exchange Limited by the Company Secretary, Frederick Ichekwai, on Thursday to shareholders, the board described the move as a strategic push to consolidate Presco’s position as the leading integrated agro-industrial company in Nigeria and expand its footprint across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“As custodians of the leading integrated agro-industrial company in Nigeria, and in line with our responsibility to seek avenues to consolidate this position and pursue opportunistic inorganic growth, the Board and management team of Presco have focused on identifying the right strategies to drive sustained long-term growth and profitability of your company,” the statement read.
The board explained that Presco had completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of GOPDC for $124,926,600, while it is proposing to acquire SOP for $46,710,526 Both GOPDC and SOP are wholly owned subsidiaries of Société d’Investissement pour l’Agriculture Tropicale (“Siat SA”), a key shareholder in Presco.
GOPDC, incorporated in Ghana in 1995, operates from two estates in the Eastern Region, Kwae and Okumaning, with about 21,000 hectares of oil palm plantations. It processes over 35,000 tonnes of palm oil and palm kernel oil annually, employing up to 30,000 workers during peak harvest and supporting over 50,000 people indirectly.
SOP, incorporated in Nigeria in 2019, holds 22,500 hectares of oil palm plantation land in Edo State. As of January 2025, 5,000 hectares had been planted, with production expected to begin in 2026 at a target of about 28,000 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches annually.
The Presco board highlighted several benefits of the acquisitions, including a 37 per cent increase in plantation size from approximately 43,547 hectares to 59,760 hectares, diversification of revenue into foreign currencies, and economies of scale.
They added, “The proposed acquisition presents a compelling opportunity to unlock significant long-term growth for Presco and deliver substantial value to shareholders. SOP’s well-positioned land bank of over 14,000 hectares provides a strategic advantage, offering a ready platform for scalable and sustainable growth without the delays and uncertainties of securing new land.”
To finance the acquisitions and strengthen its balance sheet, Presco has proposed a rights issue of up to N250bn. The proceeds will be used to refinance debt, settle the outstanding balance for the GOPDC acquisition, fund the SOP acquisition, and support further expansion.
In line with Nigerian Exchange Limited rules on related-party transactions, Siat SA will abstain from voting, leaving the final decision to minority shareholders.
