Sunday, November 20, 2016

Atlas Seeks New Acquisitions in Africa After Ethiopia Exit


Troubled Atlas African Industries says it is seeking new business acquisitions in the continent following its decision to exit Ethiopia by selling its bottle manufacturing plant.
The loss-making logistics firm, which is listed on the Nairobi bourse, announced on Friday that it is divesting from TEAP Glass after Ethiopian authorities forcefully seized its $2.4 million (Sh240 million) following a tax dispute.
The firm disclosed that Atlas' minority shareholders Innovative Africa Investments Ltd (which owns a 14.22 per cent stake) and Eagle Investments Ltd (4.26 per cent) will pay $1.6 million in cash and sell back their entire 18.48 per cent shareholding.
Atlas now says they are in the market to acquire companies that are presently operating in the continent.
"The company's planned strategy following completion of the disposal is to make an acquisition or acquisitions of one or multiple African focused businesses operating in the consumer sector," Atlas said in a notice to shareholders.
"In this regard the board are looking for operational and scalable businesses, which have been significantly de-risked, where possible. Preference will be given to businesses which are already generating revenue.
The company disclosed that it would suffer a $254,216 (Sh25.4 million) hit from disposing of TEAP Glass where it had invested about $5 million (Sh500 million) to set up the jinxed bottling plant.
Atlas delisted from the London Stock Exchange on Friday after failing to hire a corporate adviser, but said it would continue trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The company's fortunes began tumbling when it lost its contracts with Tullow Oil amid falling crude oil prices, which forced the firm to liquidate its Kenyan operations to pay debts. Read more here

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Recent Articles

Recent Video Uploads

Subscribe Ethiopia Today Videos and Watch on You Tube

Ethiopia Today

  • Active a minute ago with many
  •  
  •  videos
Ethiopia Today bringing you recent information about Ethiopia. It bring you, news, Amharic movies,  Musics and many clips. subscribe and get many Videos on time