Nigeria’s Oil Palm Giant, Presco, Returns to Local Ownership After 33 Years

Nigeria’s oil palm powerhouse, Presco, has undergone a significant change in ownership after 33 years of Belgian control.

The company, which is the country’s largest fully integrated agro-industrial palm processor according to GCR Ratings, has seen a shift in majority control from long-time investor Siat N.V., based in Brussels, Belgium, to Oak and Saffron Limited, backed by Nigerian businessman Rasheed Sarumi.

Oak and Saffron, which has little online presence but is established for oil palm, rubber, and horticulture businesses, intends to keep Presco listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

The strategic move is aimed at developing the oil palm and rubber industries in West Africa and the horticulture industry in China, Belgium, and the United States.

The transaction involves approximately 50,000 hectares of currently-cultivated oil palms on a plantation capable of producing 100,000 metric tons of palm kernel oil, crude palm oil, and natural rubber in thousands of metric tons every year.

Presco, based in Benin City, boasts six oil palm plantations, a palm kernel crushing plant, palm oil milling facilities, and vegetable oil refining & fractionation plants. Siat had been operating in Nigeria since 1991 when it bought the government-owned Obaretin