In a bid to enhance its capacity to produce pure refined sugar from sugar cane, BUA Group has acquired Lafiagi Sugar Company, a fully integrated sugar processing plant hitherto owned and operated by the Federal  Government. 

This move by BUA comes on the heels of the company's recent N15 billion acquisition of cement factories in Okpella, Edo State and Sokoto. 

Lafiagi Sugar Company was established as a joint venture between the federal government and Mehta Group of India. The Indian firm eventually pulled out of the technical agreement in 1985 leaving the federal government as the 100 percent owner of the company. 

Over time,  however, production declined in the factory due to the poor technical and financial performance of the company, leading to the federal government's decision to privatise the company.

The privatisation exercise was carried out by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) through a guided liquidation strategy to ensure its assets were sold en-bloc and to a single buyer who would continue the business of sugar refining and BUA group emerged as the preferred private company to take over the company. 

According to the company, at the handing over ceremony which was well attended by representatives from the BPE  and BUA International, the Director General of the BPE, who was represented by Mr. Alwell Ibeh expressed regret that the country expended considerable resources on the plant only for it to depreciate. However, he  expressed confidence that under the new management and with its technical abilities and competence, the company was sure to emerge as a force to be reckoned with.

He also pledged the support and assistance of the Bureau to ensure that the new owners would succeed. 

The Group Chief Operating Officer of BUA International,  Mr. Chimaobi Madukwe who spoke on behalf of the chairman of the Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu thanked the federal government represented by the BPE, the host community and the liquidators. 

He reassured all parties of the capability and the interest his company had in taking the Lafiagi Sugar Company to new heights and promised that the group would retain all staff met on ground and would perform its social responsibility functions to the Lafiagi community.

"BUA International Ltd emerged as the core investor after a rigorous and painstaking liquidation process, which saw three companies including BUA International short-listed for the financial bid opening," Madukwe said. 

He said Duraclean Chemical and Allied Products, one of the other companies involved had the highest bid but could not pay the bid fees due to liquidity issues. 

"It was at this point that BUA increased its bid offer to N135, 000,000 from its initial N80, 000,000 (which was N15, 000,000 more than Duraclean's bid) and instantly paid 20% of the new amount offered to indicate serious intent to buy," he stressed

This latest acquisition comes less than a year after BUA International Ltd took over the Okpella cement factory and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria and injected 50 Million Dollars into its operation towards the upgrade of the production capacity up to 700,000 metric tons of cement through a process known as optimization. This would enable the CCNN to almost double its existing output and lead to improved revenue and profitability.

It will also be recalled that at the acquisition of the two companies last year, Alhaji Abdulsamd Rabiu had unfolded a 300 million dollar plan to upgrade and modernize the production capacity for Edo Cement Company by installing a new 2 million tons capacity line before the end of 2011,  which would bring the total production capacity of the company to 2.4 million tonnes per annum,  from the current 400,000 tonnes.

BUA International Ltd. was one of the six companies licensed by the federal government late 2008 to help bring sanity to the cement industry through among others, the expansion of the existing capacity for cement production in the country and import of bulk cement which is then re-bagged. 

BUA International is currently in talks with Gaslink and Nigerian Gas Company with the aim of extending gas supply to Okpella which is only 20 Kilometres from a major gas pipeline to power its production process.