The country's largest miller announced plans to spend up to $1 billion over the next four years to expand its facilities and restructure, with the goal of attracting technical and financial partners to support its growth, Bloomberg reported.
In September, Excelsior Shipping Company offered to buy out Miller's minority shareholders and take the company private. Flour Mills will be restructured, with 22 units consolidated into five individual companies.
"We want to be able to attract partners — technical and financial partners — to help us grow our sugar operations and our food business. We have a lot of ambitious plans for investment and expansion," the company’s chairman, John Coumantaros, told the media.
The new funding is about "doubling down on investment in Nigeria," he emphasized.
Most of the investment will come from internal sources; however, the company will seek external expertise in some specific areas.
Flour Mills plans to expand across West Africa and leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is expected to boost intra-African trade and socio-economic growth development in the region, to create a pan-African food business, the news agency added.
"Our dream is to have a pan-African food business that is headquartered in Nigeria. We’ll take advantage of the AfCFTA so that we can expand our footprint into those regions," the company’s head noted.
The company is also reported to be considering a future re-listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange following its repositioning.