South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation acquires a 1.5 % stake in Dangote Industries

Aliko Dangote, founder and CEO Dangote Group/Industries

(Reuters) – Dangote Industries, majority shareholder in Dangote Cement, on Monday sold 1.5 percent of its stake in Nigeria’s biggest listed firm to South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation for US$ 289.3 million.

Renaissance Capital, broker to the deal, said Dangote Industries sold 1.5 percent of its 95 percent stake in Africa’s biggest cement producer at 179 naira (US$1.12) per share.

Dangote Cement shares, which make up a third of the Nigerian stock market, traded flat on Monday at 210 naira (US$1.32), staying at a high.

Shares in Dangote cement, majority owned Aliko Dangote, have surged to record highs since May. Dangote is also the 25th richest man in the world, worth US$20 billion, according to Forbes magazine’s latest estimate.

The Public Investment Corporation, which manages pension funds for the South African government, is trying to diversify its investment out of its home market to tap into other faster-growing African markets.

Last year, the Public Investment Corporation bought 19.58 percent of pan-African lender Ecobank Trasnational for US$250 million, its first major investment outside South Africa.