Acorn Petroleum plc, fresh from its hugely successful private placement exercise, is poised to issue fresh shares through an initial public offer (IPO).
Ahead of this, the company has held an extra-ordinary general meeting where shareholders gave their approval to the plans to raise additional capital through an initial public offer.
The meeting took stock of the firm’s private placement exercise and also deliberated on the way forward, consolidating on the huge gains of this exercise which saw Acorn Petroleum expanding its shareholder base from 36 individual and institutional shareholders to over 9,000 shareholders.
The meeting also resolved that the petroleum marketing company will henceforth play an ‘actively responsive’ role in the nation’s capital market. This IPO exercise will be executed by the company as a prelude to its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Analysts and market watchers are likely to view this latest development as a positive one for the nation’s capital market. "It is a much needed boost to the petroleum marketing sub-sector of the stock exchange," one stockbroker who pleaded anonymity said.
"Acorn Petroleum is certainly poised for greater days ahead," says Mr Doyin Adeyinka, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. "The company has enjoyed tremendous goodwill over the years and our private placement exercise proved to us that we needed to expand our frontiers and current operational potential, hence the need for the issue of additional shares to the investing public."
Acorn Petroleum plc commenced business in 1981 as a registered marketer of refined petroleum products and lubricants. The company has in the last 26 years grown to be recognized in the Nigerian oil and gas industry as a provider of quality service and products.
In recent times, the company has undergone significant institutional and operational changes; a recent rebranding exercise resulted in the company’s current corporate identity and logo whilst fresh blood has been pumped into its management team to reposition and rejuvenate its fortunes.
As an integrated service oriented company engaged in the full spectrum of activities in the downstream petroleum, gas and energy sub-sectors, Acorn’s current clientele base showcases its growing clout and contributions to the national economy.
The additional capital which will be raised by the company will shore up its shareholder base and profile, boost its capacity to service current and new clients (and economic sectors) across the country and also fuel its drive into the West African sub-region, where it has identified copious opportunities in several Anglophone and Francophone economies.
