By: ROTIMI ASHER (with reports from REUTERS)
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]sset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has concluded plans to sell off its 79.31 per cent majority shares in PAN Automobile Nigeria Limited through a bid process.
To this end, it, on Tuesday called for bidders, who are willing to invest in the plant, which it jointly owns with the French automaker, Peugeot Citroen.
AMCON acquired majority shares of the company four years ago, following its purchase of the company’s debt as well as taking some as equity.
Peugeot Citroen is the technical partner to the Nigerian assembly plant, which has capacity to assemble 240 cars a day, PAN said on its website.
In a statement, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said it owned 79.3 percent of PAN Nigeria Limited, having acquired the stake four years ago after purchasing the company’s debt and taking some as equity.
PAN Nigeria Limited was set up in 1972 as a joint venture between the Nigerian government and France’s Peugeot, with an annual production of 90,000 cars by the 1980s.
But operations nosedived and the company accumulated bad loans shortly after the government sold its stake via a privatisation to local core investors in 2006.
AMCON said PAN Nigeria had assets totalling 24.96 billion naira ($125.43 million) as of December 2014 and equity of 11.98 billion naira, and was seeking investors with experience in automobile manufacturing to buy the stake on offer.
Bidding for PAN Nigeria’s share will close on January 26th at 1600 GMT.
