Abraaj converts $10m loan into equity, gets 70% stake in C$I Leasing

Abraaj Group, the private-equity firm that collapsed after defaulting on debt, will get a 70 percent stake in C&I Leasing Plc by converting a $10 million loan into equity in C&I Leasing Plc, a Nigerian company.

“Abraaj knows that pulling out $10 million will be detrimental to the growth of the business, so rather than cash out, they decided to convert,” C&I Chief Executive Officer Andrew Otike-Odibi said by phone from Lagos. Once done, C&I plans a rights issue or an initial public offering that may dilute Abraaj’s stake to about 30 percent, he said.

C & I Leasing had in December 2018 announced its intention to restructure its issued and paid-up share capital by consolidating every four ordinary shares of 50 kobo each currently held into one new ordinary share of 50 kobo.

The share capital reconstruction will see cancellation of 1.506 billion ordinary shares. The reconstruction will reduce C & I Leasing’s current outstanding share capital of 1.883 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to 376.56 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

C & I Leasing has been in operation for more than two decades and has since evolved from being a simple finance leasing company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1991 to becoming a diversified leasing and business service conglomerate providing support services to various indigenous and multinational organizations in West Africa.

The group’s business includes fleet management, personnel outsourcing and marine services and it has operational offices in Lagos, Benin, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Abuja. C & I Leasing’s subsidiaries include Leasafric Ghana Limited and Epic International FZE Dubai.