E-Business
Flour Mills Acquires Majority Stake in Honeywell Flour Mill
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, has announced that its reached consensus agreement with Honeywell Group Limited to acquire majority stake in Honeywell Flour Mills Plc.
The agreement enables Flour Mills to purchase 71.69 per cent stake in Honeywell, while a separate pact with FBN Holdings Group allows the miller to acquire the financial services group’s stake of 5.06 per cent in Honeywell, bringing its consolidated holding in Honeywell to 76.75 per cent.
Quoting a regulatory filing note at the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Monday, newsmen report that the deal could mean Flour Mills will be taking over about 6.09 billion units of Honeywell’s 7.93 billion ordinary shares, priced at an opening price of N3.39 per unit on Monday.
It said the disposal of the 71.69 percent stake by Honeywell will be conducted on the basis of an enterprise value N80 billion.
The key highlights of the proposed transaction are as follows:
- HGL will dispose of a 71.69% stake in HFMP to FMN based on an enterprise value of NGN80 billion. The final equity price per share payable will be determined based on HFMP’s adjusted net debt and net working capital at the date of completion.
- The proposed combination is subject to approval from the appropriate regulators.
- The complementary transaction combines FMN’s market-leading offerings that include grain-based foods, sugar, starches, oils, spreads and breakfast cereals with HFMP’s market leading diverse and differentiated range of carbohydrate products.
- Stakeholders would benefit from the more than 85-year combined track record of FMN and HFMP and their shared goal of making affordable and nutritious food available to Nigeria’s population.
- The scale of the transaction provides employees of the consolidated company with more career development opportunities in a larger organisation, with the potential to create more jobs in the economy as it will have more brands and categories, and a larger and more geographically diverse footprint.
- Customers across the nation will benefit from access to a wider product range and a robust pan-Nigerian distribution network, accessing greater number of points of sale supported by enhanced customer-focused sales teams and redistribution capabilities.
- The combination will also serve as a catalyst for an even stronger stream of innovation that is focused on local content offerings.
- The country and its food security agenda will benefit from both companies’ focus on developing Nigeria’s industrial capability, its agricultural value chain and specifically backward integration of the food industry.
- Nigeria presents vast opportunities, particularly in light of the country being the largest market on the continent as well as a signatory of AfCFTA.
- HFMP’s listing will be retained for the foreseeable future. Minority shareholders of HFMP will be treated fairly and in line with capital market regulation. Further information will be provided within the required channels and timeframes.
Commenting on the transaction, Obafemi Otudeko, managing director, Honeywell Group Limited said: “Today’s announcement is in line with the evolution of Honeywell Group and our vision of creating value that transcends generations.
“For over two decades, we have supported Honeywell Flour Mills to build a strong business with a production capacity of 835,000 metric tonnes of food per annum.
“Following the transaction, Honeywell Group will be strongly positioned to consolidate and expand its investment activities, including as a partner of choice for investors in key growth sectors.”
Omoboyede Olusanya, group managing director of Flour Mills of Nigeria, said: “The proposed transaction is aligned with our vision not only to be an industry leader but a national champion for Nigeria.
“We believe that this will create an opportunity to combine the unique talents of two robust businesses.
“As a result, we will have a better-rounded and more comprehensive skill set available to us as a combined diversified food business, thus enabling us to better serve our consumers, customers and other stakeholders, whilst providing employees with access to broader opportunities.”
PalmPay, Africa-focused fintech operating Nigeria’s most used mobile wallet, and Jumia, Africa’s e-commerce giant, today announce a strategic partnership to enhance the digital payment ecosystem on the continent, starting with payment integrations and co-marketing efforts in Nigeria.
This partnership underscores both parties’ commitment to developing the digital payment ecosystem in Nigeria and grow the use of the cashless economy.
WIth PalmPay now available as a payment method, shoppers on Jumia will now be able to pay for their purchases with the option to check out with their PalmPay wallet, ensuring a seamless user experience and transaction reliability through the direct integration.
“We are proud to partner with Jumia as we bring together the best of fintech and e-commerce to redefine the online shopping experience,” said Sofia Zab, Chief Marketing Officer, PalmPay. “This strategic alliance aligns perfectly with our shared commitment to delivering a superior user experience and exceptional value to our customers.”
Speaking on the partnership, Sunil Natraj, CEO, Jumia Nigeria added: “At Jumia, we are dedicated to creating value for our customers by ensuring a convenient, reliable, and secure shopping experience.
“This partnership with PalmPay strengthens our commitment to enhancing the digital payments within our platform. By integrating PalmPay, we are providing more options for customers to access affordable and quality goods with the convenience of cashless transactions.”
This alliance marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between two industry giants, aiming to drive innovation, increase convenience for consumers, and foster the adoption of digital payments across Africa.
To celebrate the launch of the partnership, PalmPay and Jumia are launching a special Christmas campaign, running from December 11th to 30th. During this period, customers who make purchases on Jumia using the PalmPay payment method will stand a chance to win exciting cash rewards. More details can be found on the brands’ respective social media pages. @palmpay_ng and @JumiaNigeria.
Aero Contractors is thrilled to announce the launch of its “12 Days of Christmas” campaign, a festive and engaging social media initiative designed to spread holiday cheer and reward loyal customers.
Running from December 13 to December 24, 2024, this exciting campaign underscores Aero Contractors’ commitment to connecting families, friends, and communities during the holidays.
The “12 Days of Christmas” campaign invites travel enthusiasts, loyal customers, and holiday travelers to participate in fun and interactive activities on Aero Contractors’ social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). Each day will feature engaging posts such as trivia, puzzles, and challenges designed to ignite the festive spirit and encourage community participation.
Participants are encouraged to follow Aero Contractors’ social media pages, engage with the daily posts by liking, commenting, or sharing, and follow the specific instructions for each day’s activity.
Winners will be selected daily and announced on the respective platforms. Exciting prizes await participants, with the grand reward of a free return economy class ticket—a perfect gift for reconnecting with loved ones or exploring new destinations this holiday season.
“At Aero Contractors, we believe in the power of togetherness, especially during the holidays,” said Capt. Ado Sanusi, Managing Director of Aero Contractors.
“Our ‘12 Days of Christmas’ campaign is our way of giving back to the community that has supported us throughout the year. It’s an opportunity to engage, celebrate, and reward our customers while spreading joy and festive cheer.”
This campaign targets travel enthusiasts, loyal Aero Contractors customers, and families looking to make the most of the holiday season. Through this initiative, Aero Contractors reaffirms its dedication to safe, reliable, and efficient air travel, bringing people closer when it matters most.
Follow Aero Contractors on Instagram, Facebook, and X to join the “12 Days of Christmas” campaign. Engage daily for a chance to win a free return economy class ticket and other exciting offers.
Companies are planning to increase their investments in information security against the background of growing financial losses from cyber incidents. This trend was revealed in the recent Kaspersky’s IT Security Economics report.
Kaspersky IT Security Economics is an annual report that unpicks the changes in budgets, breaches and business challenges affecting IT Security decision makers. It is based on interviews with IT and IT security professionals working in organisations of various sizes and industries.
The survey was conducted across 27 countries in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa region (including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkiye, the UAE), Latin and North America.
According to the research, companies plan to increase their IT security budgets by up to 9%. The median cybersecurity budgets for large enterprises were $5.7M with $41.8M allocated for IT generally, while SMBs invested $0.2M in IT security from a median IT budget of $1.6M.
Possible reasons for the increased investment can be found in the analysis of financial losses from cyber incidents. Large enterprises experienced an average of 12 incidents this year, spending $6.2M to recover from them — 1.1 times higher than the budget allocated for IT security overall.
Despite the greater resources and advanced security infrastructures, the sheer scale and complexity of large enterprise organisations make them more susceptible to costly breaches.
While these enterprises are often better equipped to detect incidents quickly, the time required to fully respond and mitigate these threats can span for hours, underscoring the challenge of managing widespread, complex IT environments.
As for SMBs, these organisations experienced an average of 16 incidents this year, while spending $0.3M for remediation, which is 1.5 times higher than their overall IT Security budget.
SMBs are the most disproportionately affected group in terms of budgetary impact. They often lack robust cybersecurity policies and procedures, which leaves them vulnerable to incidents involving employees, public cloud misconfigurations, and high-level permissions.
In the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa region organiations of all sizes reported to have experienced on average 13 incidents within a year.
“This data illustrates the continuation of the current trend of increasing cybersecurity spending across all market segments. This growth is driven by at least three key factors.
“Firstly, and obviously, the constant growth in the complexity of cybersecurity threats forces companies to adopt more advanced solutions to enhance the detection of attack traces and automate responses.
“Secondly, increasing concerns from governments regarding digital sovereignty leads to the emergence of new regulations and regulatory requirements and, as a result, increased expenses.
The third factor influencing the growth of cybersecurity budgets and costs is the constant increase in salary expectations for professionals in various cybersecurity fields,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, Vice President, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.
To protect companies against a wide range of cyber threats, Kaspersky recommends:
– Use all-encompassing solutions, such as those from the Kaspersky Next product line, that provide real-time protection, threat visibility, advanced investigation and response capabilities for companies of any size and industry.
– Adopt a managed security service such as Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response if companies lack qualified InfoSec professionals. It will provide the necessary expertise and give them the best possible advanced automated security services. Thanks to its analysis of corporate data gathered every day, in real time, 24/7, it can shield businesses against sophisticated cyberattacks.
– Educate your employees. Dedicated training courses can help, such as those provided in the Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform.
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