Dangote Refinery IPO draws $1B pension fund bids ahead of Nov 17 allotment
South Africa's Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Nigerian pension fund administrators have applied for nearly $1 billion combined in Dangote Petroleum Refinery shares, Bloomberg reported Friday. The PIC, managing $220 billion in assets, requested about $500 million, while Nigeria's 20 pension funds serving 11 million contributors sought $400-500 million. This follows the refinery's IPO which attracted $4.3 billion from 3.8 million subscribers, valuing the company at $50 billion.
Nigeria's pension regulator PenCom granted a one-off waiver in May allowing pension assets to participate despite the refinery not meeting standard profitability and dividend requirements. The refinery previously raised $2.5 billion via private placement in July, and Femi Otedola committed $100 million. Aliko Dangote retains 84.34% ownership post-offering and may sell part of his stake to meet demand.
Nigeria's SEC is expected to approve final share allotment on November 17, with trading potentially starting around December 8. The IPO was oversubscribed nearly three times—investors applied for 11.15 billion shares against 4.1 billion offered at ₦525 each.
With pension funds locking in nearly $1 billion, will this institutional backing signal confidence for retail investors still awaiting allotment, or does the oversubscription mean most applicants receive only a fraction of requested shares?