An investment of $12.24 million made by Peter Obi as Anambra State governor on behalf of the state government in International Breweries is now down to $5.38 million.
Peter Obi had claimed in an interview with Arise TV in 2018 that he invested over $20 million in International Breweries on behalf of Anambra state as a governor, and that the investment was worth almost $100 million at the time.
In the interview, Obi said, “Tomorrow, they are commissioning a facility in Sagamu, International Breweries, the biggest brewery in Africa. Anambra state is the single highest shareholder in that facility, I invested in it – over 20-something-million dollars. It is worth almost $100 m today, that’s what governments should do.”
This has been debunked by the governor of Anambra, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.
On Monday, Soludo debunked reports that a ‘$20 million investment’ made by a former governor of the state, Peter Obi, was now worth $100 million.
Obi is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections.
A Facebook user had also credited a statement to Soludo alleging that the $20 million which Obi allegedly invested on behalf of the state in the company is now worth $100 million.
“Mr Peter Obi’s $20 million investment in Anambra worth $100 million today – Charles Chukwuma Soludo,” the Facebook user had said.
Reacting to the claim on his verified Facebook page, Soludo said, “Where did you read or hear me make such false statement? This fake news has been roundly debunked by my team.
“We can carry on with campaigning for our preferred candidates without consciously misleading the reading public. The report is fake and never emanated from me. Thank you.”
International Breweries (IB) Plc is a subsidiary of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) — a multinational drink and brewing giant based in Leuven, Belgium.
In its 2021 audited financial statement, the company said it holds 43 percent economic interest in International Breweries Plc, a publicly listed company in Nigeria.
According to a report by The Nation, AB InBev merged its Nigerian operations under a single corporate entity in 2017. It had three indirect Nigerian subsidiaries — International Breweries Plc, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited. SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV — another subsidiary of AB InBev — was also a major stakeholder in Intafact and Pabod.
However, in a statement obtained by TheCable on Tuesday, Ifeatu Onejeme, Anambra’s finance commissioner, said Peter Obi’s administration invested the sum of N1,955,535,247.00 (an equivalent of approximately $12,616,356.43 at the then average CBN exchange rate of N155.00/$1) in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery set up in Onitsha by SABMiller Breweries of South Africa in 2012.
According to Olojeme, the state government still holds 407,321,264 ordinary shares of International Breweries Plc in exchange for the Intafact Beverages Limited investment.
“Based on the NGX closing price of N5.50 as of 20/6/22, these shares were valued at N2,240,266,952 on that date,” the statement reads in part.
“Based on the Central Bank of Nigeria I&E exchange rate of N415.75/US$1.00 on same June 20, 2022, this investment was valued at an equivalent of approximately US$5,388,495.37 (and at N604/$1.00 parallel market rate, only US$3,709,051.24).”
TheCable reports that International Breweries has two major shareholders with stakes above 5 percent. The highest shareholder is AB INBEV Nigeria Holdings BV with 72.03 percent followed by Brauhaase International Management GMBH with 8.85 percent, as contained in the company’s financial report dated March 2022.
AB INBEV NIGERIA HOLDINGS BV – 78.44%
BRAUHAASE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GMBH – 8.85%
FREE FLOAT – 11.03%.