WATCH THE VIDEO HERE NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) is in the final stages of listing on the capital market as it prepares for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. This Nigeria news platform understands that Olugbenga Oluwaniyi, the company’s Chief Finance and Investor Relations Officer, disclosed this during a consultative meeting with partners at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday. He revealed that NNPC Ltd has commenced an “IPO Beauty Parade”, a strategic engagement with prospective partners to ensure compliance with capital market regulations ahead of its planned listing. “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) is at the final stage of getting listed in the capital market, in keeping with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021,” the statement read in part. An IPO, which allows institutional investors to purchase shares in a company for the first time, will officially introduce NNPC Ltd to the stock market. Oluwaniyi explained that the development aligns with capital market regulations and aims to determine the best offers in terms of project partnership. According to the CFIO, the purpose of the IPO Beauty Parade is to find potential partners and explore how they can support the company. He mentioned three key areas where partnerships are needed: Investor Relations, IPO Readiness Advisers, and Investment Bank Partners. The selection of partners will be based on the strength of their proposals and their ability to provide comprehensive support in these areas. Under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, NNPC Ltd is required to transition from a state-owned entity to a fully commercial enterprise. This transformation also mandates compliance with the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and profitability. NNPC seems to be following the example of several state-owned oil firms that have gone public and turned out to be huge global successes. Some of those state-owned oil companies that have their shares traded publicly include; Recall that in March 2024, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, had hinted that the anticipated public listing of the company’s shares at the stock market as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), will start soon. Kyari that NNPC would become a quoted company in line with the PIA, adding that at maturity, some of the national oil company’s shares would be divested. He said NNPC had experienced transformation owing to the reform process triggered by the PIA. The NNPC boss said the oil firm has moved away from a government-owned corporation to a limited liability company that is now a commercial and profit-making company. He explained that in the past, the company was a corporation owned by the government but wasn’t a commercial company and that the organisation needed to move away from that situation to a reform process that converted it to a full limited liability company.NNPCL has reportedly finalised an Initial Public Offer (IPO).
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