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By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Chief Executive Officer, Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc, Pharm Matthew Azoji, has expressed optimism that the company shareholders will take their rights in the Rights Issue and that the offer will be fully subscribed amid the current inflation and currency challenges in the country.
Azoji, who stated this during a briefing with newsmen at the weekend in Lagos, also added that the company is working as a team and readjusting its strategies to ensure it continues to create value to its shareholders.
“We are indeed concerned about the business environment because it is quite unpredictable currently. We are hopeful that we will succeed because our shareholders, current board, owns a significant portion of the shares because it is a rights issue. All our shareholders are going to be properly advised, educated through the investor relations activities that we are going to embark on. They will all be well educated of the implications and the benefits they will gain by taking their rights and they will have the first access to their rights and so nobody can come as an external investor and take the rights issue like that because he has the funds.
Secondly, the offer is underwritten. So we are expecting that we get the whole of that form even if there are a few people that do not take theirs. There may also be a number of other investors who are interested who can also find ways to get access to the shares through some of the shareholders who might not have the funds or whatever but we believe that it will be successful”, he said.
The company had concluded its completion Board Meeting to float a Rights Issue of N3.67 billion through the Nigerian capital market (NCM), starting by August 3, 2022. According to Azoji, the Rights Issue will be used to raise the sum of N3.67 billion at the price of N1.55 per 50 kobo share.
“We are seeking a total of N5 billion of investors’ funds through a hybrid Offer of Rights Issue and Private Placement. We want to raise N3.7 billion and N1.3 billion respectively from both Offerings. To carry out the Rights Issue, the Company had in March 2022, created 2,373,947,500 additional Ordinary Shares which will be allotted at the rate of five new shares for every four shares currently held in the company to existing shareholders”, he said.
According to him, the money is being raised to fund the company’s strategic expansion plans which include; the construction of a new plant in Anambra State scheduled to start operations in 2023, a facility upgrade of its Oregun plant and sustaining the company’s capital structure.
