Tiger Brands, the South African largest consumer foods producer announced on Monday that it is holding talks with the Dangote Group over the acquisition of a stake in its flour milling subsidiary Dangote Flour.
Dangote Flour is listed separately on the Nigerian Stock Exchange along with Dangote Cement which is also controlled by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Tiger Brands is seeking an eighty per cent stake in Dangote Flour Mills, which produces flour and pasta for the Nigerian market.
This latest move comes after Tiger Brands entered the Nigerian market in 2010 with the acquisition of a stake in the foods unit of leading conglomerate UAC and the outright purchase of privately-held Deli Foods.
However, unlike the cement industry where Dangote is a market leader, the flour unit lags behind Flour Mills PLC in terms of market share.
Shares in Dangote Flour Mills jumped 4.64 per cent to reach a six week high of 4.96 naira while Tiger Brands remained unchanged at 288.21 rand.
If the deal goes through, it would give Tiger Brands a substantial presence in the Nigerian food market as Dangote Flour has a capacity of 4,800 metric tonnes per day.