Sep 10 (Lagos) - Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FLOURMILL) has acquired Nigerian Bank Manufacturing Company Plc (BAGCO) and also the privately held Northern Bag Manufacturing Company Limited (Bagco-north) as part of its restructing programme.

 
Both FLOURMILL and BACO are public companies listed on the NSE while Bagco-North is a private limited liability company.

 
The merger will thus result in the transfer of all assets, liabilities and undertakings of Bagco and Bagco-North to Flour Mills.
 

Consequently, the entire issued share capital of Bagco and Bagco-North, respectively would be cancelled and the minority shareholders of Bagco will have an option to elect for cash or shares in Flour Mills at a price to be determined using mutually agreed valuation methods.
 

Bagco and Bagco-North will therefore be dissolved without winding up.
 

The justification for the transaction, according to the companies, is the need to streamline operations, reduce administrative costs, improve operating efficiency and capture the full synergies arising from the merger, which, in turn will result in a significant enhancement of shareholder value.

 
Flour Mills Plc’s chairman, George Coumantaros last week said the company planned to invest additional N200 billion into the nation’s economy besides over N150 billion already invested in the last 10 years.
 

“In pursuit of our goals in the food and agro-allied businesses, we will continue to explore growth opportunities through acquisitions, mergers, take-over and other forms of business combinations in order to broaden our earnings base, create synergies and build a profitable and sustainable future,” he said.