How to Buy Flour Mills of Nigeria Shares: Check Status First

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc shares cannot currently be bought through an ordinary order on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The company, which traded under the ticker FLOURMILL, was delisted on 30 December 2024 after its majority shareholder's scheme to acquire the remaining shares was approved by shareholders at a court-ordered meeting. The first step for anyone interested in the shares is therefore to confirm the current listing status on the NGX, before opening an account or transferring money for this purpose.

What Is Flour Mills of Nigeria and Is It Listed on the NGX?

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc is a food group founded in 1960. It mills wheat into flour and semolina, makes pasta, noodles and other packaged foods under the Golden Penny brand, and has agro-allied activities that include animal feeds. For many years its shares traded on the NGX under the symbol FLOURMILL, classified under Consumer Goods.

Following the scheme described above, the shares were removed from the Exchange's official list. Older articles, price pages and broker watchlists may still show the FLOURMILL symbol, which is why the status check matters. If the position ever changes, for example through a new listing, it would be announced by the NGX and the company.

How to Confirm the Current Listing Status

1. Search the NGX website for the company by name and by the symbol FLOURMILL. A listed company has a live company page with current prices and recent filings.
2. Read the NGX notices and the company's own announcements about the scheme of arrangement and the delisting.
3. Ask a SEC-registered stockbroker whether the symbol can be traded. If it is not on the official list, the broker cannot execute an NGX order for it.
4. Ask the same broker whether the shares are admitted to trading on the NASD OTC Securities Exchange, which is a separate market for unlisted public companies. Do not assume they are.

What Delisting Means if You Wanted to Buy

Once a company is delisted there is no NGX market in its shares, so the usual steps of funding an account and placing a buy order do not apply. Where a scheme of arrangement transfers all the remaining publicly held shares to the majority shareholder, there may be no shares in public hands to buy at all. The scheme document and the related NGX filings state exactly which shares were acquired and on what terms.

In general, shares in an unlisted public company change hands only in two ways: on the NASD OTC market if the company is admitted there, or by a private, negotiated transfer processed through the company's registrar and subject to the company's articles. Neither route works like an NGX order, and both depend on a willing seller existing.

What You Need if You Still Want to Pursue It

• Written confirmation of the current listing status from the NGX website or a SEC-registered broker
• The scheme document and delisting announcements, read in full
• A SEC-registered stockbroker who can tell you whether any regulated market exists for the shares
• A CSCS account and Clearing House Number (CHN) in your own name, which you would need for any NGX-listed or OTC-traded security
• Independent regulated advice if you are considering a private transfer

Costs and Fees to Expect

For NGX-listed shares, a purchase carries broker commission plus statutory and market charges to the SEC, the NGX and the CSCS, and stamp duty where it applies. A transaction in an unlisted share is different: an OTC trade follows that market's own fee schedule, and a private transfer typically involves registrar processing, stamp duty on the transfer and any adviser fees. Ask for every cost in writing before committing.

Dividends, the Registrar and Existing Holders

Delisting removes a share from NGX trading; it does not by itself cancel anyone's ownership. Under a court-sanctioned scheme, however, the shares covered are transferred to the acquirer and the holders are paid the consideration set out in the scheme document, normally by the registrar to the bank account on the shareholder's e-dividend mandate.

If you held Flour Mills of Nigeria shares and are unsure what happened to them, contact the company's registrar with your name, CHN and any old certificate or contract note. The registrar can tell you whether scheme consideration or past dividends remain unclaimed and how to claim them. The registrar's name appears in the scheme document and in the company's annual reports. Dividends on Nigerian shares carry 10% withholding tax.

Things People Commonly Research About Flour Mills of Nigeria

• The terms and completion of the scheme of arrangement, from the scheme document and NGX notices
• Whether any class of the company's securities remains listed or is quoted on another regulated market
• The business itself: wheat import costs, foreign exchange availability, port and distribution logistics, and demand for packaged foods
• Other food and milling companies that are listed on the NGX, each of which has its own NGX company page and filings

These are research topics only. They do not suggest any course of action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Flour Mills of Nigeria still listed on the NGX?

It was delisted on 30 December 2024 following its majority shareholder's scheme to acquire the remaining shares. Listing status can change over time, so confirm the present position on the NGX website before relying on this or any other article.

Can my broker still buy FLOURMILL for me?

A broker can only execute NGX orders in securities on the Exchange's official list. If FLOURMILL is not on that list, no NGX order is possible. Your broker can tell you whether any other regulated market exists for the shares.

I owned Flour Mills shares before the delisting. What happened to them?

Where a scheme of arrangement is sanctioned by the court, it binds all shareholders in the class, and their shares are transferred in exchange for the scheme consideration. If you have not received payment, contact the registrar and make sure your bank details and identity documents are up to date.

Does buying Golden Penny products make me a shareholder?

Buying a company's products has no connection to owning its shares. Share ownership is recorded on the company's register of members and, for listed shares, in the CSCS under your CHN.

Why does the symbol FLOURMILL still appear on some websites?

Price pages, watchlists and older guides are not always updated when a company leaves the Exchange. The NGX website and the company's regulatory announcements are the authoritative sources for listing status.

Where can I read more about delisting?

Our article on what happens when a company is delisted from the NGX explains voluntary and regulatory delisting, exit offers, schemes of arrangement and what happens to a CSCS holding.