Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE has secured a $1 billion capital-markets backing from Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC Ltd and Lilium Capital Group as it prepares for a potential initial public offering.
The programme consists of a $600 million private placement that has already been completed and funded, alongside a $400 million underwriting commitment to support the refinery’s planned IPO.
Marob Strategies and Lilium Capital, which are serving as co-financial advisers and structuring agents for the transaction, said the completed private placement represents the first phase of the broader $1 billion programme.
Under the arrangement, Pan-African Refinery Investment SPV, a subsidiary of Lilium Capital, will serve as the underwriter for the proposed IPO. The structure brings together the two firms’ advisory, investment and capital-markets capabilities.
Commenting on the development, Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, described the transaction as an important milestone for both the refinery and Africa’s capital markets.
He said the successful completion of the $600 million private placement, combined with the additional $400 million underwriting commitment, demonstrates investor confidence in the refinery’s strategic importance to the continent.
Dangote added that the work by Marob Strategies and Lilium Capital would help broaden access to the investment opportunity among African and Caribbean sovereign wealth funds, governments and institutional investors.
Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, Chairman of Marob Strategies and Consulting DIFC Ltd, said the firm was now concentrating on the orderly distribution of the private-placement participation across Global Africa.
According to Oramah, discussions are ongoing with sovereign wealth funds, governments, institutional investors and other eligible investors, with the level of interest highlighting growing demand for African-led capital-markets transactions involving major strategic assets.
Lilium Capital Group Chairman Simon Tiemtoré said the mandate reflects the company’s objective of connecting major African investment opportunities with institutional capital from across the continent and international markets.
He said mobilising long-term investment for strategic infrastructure such as the Dangote refinery would help advance industrialisation, deepen African capital markets and support sustainable economic growth.
Marob Strategies and Lilium Capital are also coordinating the sell-down of the $600 million private-placement participation while engaging prospective investors across Africa and the Caribbean.
Despite the latest development, the Dangote Refinery IPO has not yet been launched. The proposed $400 million underwriting commitment remains subject to market conditions, corporate and regulatory approvals, the completion of definitive transaction documents and compliance with applicable securities regulations.
The latest transaction therefore represents a significant step toward a potential public offering, but it should not be interpreted as confirmation that the refinery has already commenced its IPO or secured a listing date.