By Francis Akinnodi

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Okitipupa Oil Plc, in its recapitalisation drive, is set to raise N3.5 billion by issuing rights to its existing shareholders, translating to 382 million shares at N9.00 per share.

At a signing ceremony at the Issuing House, the Managing Director of one of the largest agribusinesses in Nigeria, Taiwo Adewole, explained that the right issuance was one of the company’s significant steps in bringing about the transformation, while also noting that the funds would be deployed to new technology that would further drive the business.

“While we are one of the largest agribusinesses in Nigeria today, we believe that a major role or milestone has been reached in our recapitalisation programme, which we started a few years ago. We have gone through the various approval processes.

“We will create the right environment for the company to have greater revenue or greater profitability. I believe in what we have done in the last four years. Okitipupa Oil Palm Plc is set for a great performance and a good share of the market in the oil palm value chain,” Adewole said.

Adewole assured the company’s shareholders of a return on their investments, noting that the agribusiness has a promising future with the strategic development and growth plan of the management of the company.

“When we came in 2018, the company was in total comatose with no hope for the future. But today, we want to thank God that it has become a totally different company. It holds promise for the future because the result that is coming out today is totally different.

The various strategies and drastic decisions we have taken in the last three years have paid off with great results,” he said.

He recalled that the company had been on a rebranding journey with the introduction of a cashless policy in 2018, which gave the management the opportunity to have full control of the company’s income.

“Also, because of the huge illegality going on in our plantations, with the support of the Ondo State government that provided the required security, we were able to have some measures of control of the plantations, which prior to our arrival had been totally taken over by illegal harvesters, some of whom even set up illegal mills close to some of our plantations,” he noted.

To return to profitability, Adewole explained that in 2020, there would be a change in strategy. “These strategies were very novel, but at the end of 2020, our results have shown us that we were right with the strategy we adopted. We had over a 200 per cent return on revenue, and for the first time, the company reported profitability that was enough to wipe out 12 years of consistent losses. This for us was monumental,” he said.