Ellah Lakes Plc has acquired approval from the Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) for its N235 billion public supply scheduled to open on November 10, 2025, marking one of many largest capital raises in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector.
The supply will allow the corporate to difficulty 18 billion new shares, funding the acquisition of Agro-Allied Assets and Processing Nigeria Restricted (ARPN), a transaction set to remodel Ellah Lakes right into a vertically built-in agro-industrial chief.
The Managing Director, Chuka Mordi, described the deliberate supply as “a definitive assertion of intent,” explaining that proceeds will consolidate Ellah Lakes’ place as “the undisputed main indigenous agro-industrial big in West Africa.”
He mentioned the increase would finance the acquisition of ARPN and fund post-acquisition integration, together with investments in refining and downstream processing.
Deputy Managing Director Paul Farrer added {that a} 20-tonne-per-hour mill could be put in at ARPN’s Edo State facility to enrich Ellah Lakes’ current 6-tonne-per-hour oil palm mill in Iguelaba. He described the capital increase as a mandatory step to scale operations, enhance effectivity, and unlock worth throughout the corporate’s agricultural provide chain.
Based on Mordi, the SEC approval marks the beginning of a brand new progress period: “We’re constructing scale, strengthening our {financial} base, and laying a basis for Nigeria’s agricultural industrialisation,” Mordi instructed journalists throughout a briefing in Lagos.
Not too long ago, the corporate introduced the acquisition of Agro-Allied Assets and Processing Nigeria Restricted.
The transaction additionally features a $25 million cassava processing plant able to 600 metric tons of each day processing and 300 tons of flour milling, giving Ellah Lakes a serious foothold in Nigeria’s starch and meals substances market.
Farrer described ARPN’s portfolio as “a powerful mixture of productive belongings and untapped potential.”
“About 60% of the oil palms are already of their peak productive years, with one other 30% nearing maturity. This interprets into quick and rising money flows,” he mentioned.
He famous that ARPN’s assured off-take agreements guarantee quick market entry and predictable revenues, whereas its infrastructure offers a basis for built-in progress in oil palm and cassava, two commodities vital to Nigeria’s meals safety and industrial uncooked materials base.
The upcoming public supply builds on a wave of monetary restructuring by Ellah Lakes over the previous 18 months.
In 2024, the corporate transformed N3.1 billion in shareholder loans into fairness, bettering its stability sheet and lowering leverage
Earlier this 12 months, shareholders accredited a plan to lift as much as N250 billion via a mixture of personal placements and public choices to finance acquisitions, increase plantations, and strengthen refining capability.
Whereas Ellah Lakes posted a internet lack of N893.9 million in FY2024 as a consequence of excessive prices, its fortunes have circled in 2025.
