In a move that is unclear to many existing shareholders, Forte Oil Plc, formerly African Petroleum (AP) Plc is looking for an institutional investor that will take up 204.017 million shares of the company.
Zenon Petroleum had been the core investor in the company, which changed its name from AP early this year.
However, THISDAY checks have revealed that the directors of the company are planning to sell 204.016 million shares to an institutional investor.
It was gathered that the directors are seeking the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) later this month.
Some shareholders who spoke to THISDAY at the weekend expressed surprise at the development, saying they were yet to be briefed by the company.
“Well, I am just hearing it from you. As a shareholder, I am yet to know anything about the development. Why does the company need an institutional investor in the first place. What about Zenon. Anyway, I believe the directors will tell us the reason at the AGM,†a shareholder of the company said.
Forte Oil has been having a rough patch in the past two years, posting losses. It recorded a loss of N8.9 billion in 2009 and N2.8 billion in 2010.
Addressing the shareholders last December, the Chairman of Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, attributed the loss of N8.9 billion in 2009 to the then prevailing economic situation.
According to him, the year 2009 was a particularly difficult operational year for every company in Nigeria and the rest of the world owing largely to the global recession.
“Expectedly, the oil and gas industry was not left out in the massive negative impact of the 2009 economic and socio-political environment.
For instance, in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil industry, the severe cut in local crude oil production and refining continued to create a supply gap which necessitated continuous importation of fuel by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and marketers in line with government policy of fuel subsidy,†he said.
Speaking on the name change from AP to Forte, Otedola said “the brand, AP Plc is tired.â€ÂÂ
He said that the new name was part of the strategic plans of the company to make a fresh start and do away with the past which had been enmeshed in all sorts of controversies.
Shareholders also endorsed the name change. For instance, the President of Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders (AARNS), Dr. Farouk Umar said that the name change was long overdue. He said that the company needed to move away from its past to chart a new course for a fresh beginning.
SOURCE: Thisday/ By Goddy Egene