Ibeto cement to get $850m Milost funding

Ibeto Cement Co. Ltd., a privately owned Nigerian producer of the building material, signed a deal to get $850 million in financing from Milost Global Inc, according to the New York- based private equity firm.

Milost will provide $500 million in equity and $350 million as debt to the Nigerian cement maker, Milost said in a statement on its website, citing a “binding” agreement by the two parties. The company operates a cement-bagging facility in the southern city of Port Harcourt and is currently rehabilitating Nigercem, a former state-owned plant in the southeastern town of Nkalagu, which it acquired.

The announcement of a deal with Ibeto is coming weeks after Nigerian company Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc said it was pulling out of a $350 million funding deal with the U.S. firm, citing what it called “red flags.” Milost in March ended talks to provide $1 billion to Nigeria’s Unity Bank Plc alleging threats by some suspected shareholders. The lender denied entering a binding agreement with the private equity firm, saying talks were only preliminary.