THE board of Consolidated Breweries Plc, has secured the approval of all stakeholders to float a total of 99,140,625 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

At the end of a completion board meeting held on Tuesday in Lagos, the company explained that the Rights Issue had already been approved by the Company’s shareholders at a recent yearly general meeting.

Under the arrangement, a total of 99,140,625 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each will be offered to existing shareholders in the ratio of one new ordinary share for every four ordinary shares held as at 23 December 2011, at 62.00 per share.

In a statement, the company said it approvals for the registration of the new shares have already been obtained from the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc is the Issuing House to the Issue, which is expected to open on Monday, January 9, 2012 and close Wednesday, 15 February 2012.

At the Completion Board Meeting, according to the statement, the Managing Director of Consolidated Breweries, Boudewijn Haarsma, told stakeholders  that the proceeds of the Issue will be applied towards refinancing some of Consolidated Breweries’ existing bank facilities, provide  additional working capital and funding for  the upgrade of production and distribution facilities to achieve capacity expansion and efficiency.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Head of Investment Banking, Stanbic IBTC, Ms. Yewande Sadiku, “commended the management of Consolidated Breweries for their efforts towards recapitalising the Company and expanding its production capacity to improve profitability.

Source: Guardian