'N17.38 each' - Ardova quits Nigeria’s stock market as billionaire pays over N16bn to shareholders

Ardova Plc is now a private company after delisting from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

Nigerian billionaire, Abdulwasiu Sowami's investment portfolio company Ignite Investments & Commodities Limited completed the delisting after buying out minority shareholders.

Ardova shareholders get N16 billion

A breakdown shows before the delisting Abdulwasiu Sowami holds 74.1% of Ardova’s issued shares while about 25.9% equivalent to 970.7 million units is in the hands of the public.

Sowami decided to pay N17.38 per share for the 970.7 million which comes to a value of N16.9 billion to fully take over the company.

Although the minority shareholders were expecting more money at least N66 per share, Sowami was able to secure the deal.

NGX removes Ardova from stock market

In a notice on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, NGX announced that it had delisted the equities of Ardova from its trading platform, confirming the exit of the organization from NGX.

The notice reads: “The market has been officially informed that Ardova Petroleum Plc has submitted the necessary post-approval documents, resulting in the delisting of the entire 1,310,629,267 issued share capital of Ardova from the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited today, Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

“The delisting of Ardova on NGX is pursuant to the Scheme of Arrangement between Ardova and the holders of its fully paid ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each as approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and sanctioned by the court."