The board of Ellah Lake Plc, on Friday, said it has concluded the acquisition of, and business combination with Telluria Limited as part of efforts to “strengthen its balance sheet, restore customer confidence, provide access to new markets while enhancing operations that will ultimately drive profitability and deliver value to shareholders.”
Recall that this was one of the special resolutions by shareholders at its annual general meetings in September last year, wherein the directors were authorized to allot 1.88bn ordinary shares of the company to “the shareholders of Telluria Limited by way of a Special/Private Placement, in consideration of the transfer by the Telluria Shareholders of their entire shareholding in Telluria Limited to the Company on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Directors, subject to obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.”
In another notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also on Friday, the company announced the appointment of Chuka Mordi as the company’s managing director, with effect from June 12, 2019. He replaces Frank Ellah, “who moves on to new pursuits.”
Prior to this appointment, according to the notice, by Kenechi Ezezika of OAKE Legal, Company Secretary of Ellah Lakes Plc, Mordi was a director in Telluria and the Managing Partner of CBO Investment Management.
Before now, CBO Capital and Mordi were involved in the botched turnaround attempt at Union Dicon Salt Plc, which was announced by the board of UDS in a letter to the NSE dated February 21, 2019.
Commenting on his new appointment, Mordi said: “I am very excited to be taking up the position of Ellah Lakes Managing Director. The combination of Ellah Lakes and Telluria establishes a platform with a significant existing land portfolio, access to finance and investments in the domestic production of oil palm, & a variety of cash crops. I look forward to an exciting future as we put Ellah Lakes back on a path to growth.”
Mordi, the notice by Ellah Lake, explained, “has over two and a half decades of experience in private equity investing, investment banking, and investment research.”
He began his career as an Equities Analyst at SBC Warburg, before moving to Hardman & Co. Ltd. where he focused on UK AIM stocks. At InterSec Research Corp. he led the Global Investment Management Research Team for Europe (UK) & the Far East (Japan & Singapore). At Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM) UK, he covered European Emerging Market Equities and worked on Asset Allocation and Economic analysis.”
Prior to launching CBO Investment Management in 2009, Mordi who holds a Philosophy degree from King’s College, University of London, was Head of Infrastructure Financing at First City Monument Bank.
Mordi seems to have his job cut for him at Ellah Lakes, judging by what Francis Ellah, the chairman told shareholders at the AGM to consider the 2017 financials when he noted the numerous challenges faced with its host community where its fish farm is located.
The major issue, he noted, “was the heightened level of militancy in the locality which since then has made the farm inaccessible. The militants ravaged the farm and removed major assets of the company such as generator parts and drove away the workers at the site.
“This problem is aside from the high cost of inputs and feeds which hampered our operations before the invasion of the farm by the militants took place. As a result of the threat of the lives of our workers in the farm, coupled with our tools and machinery that were vandalized, we had to close the farm on 6 September 2016 and informed the regulatory authorities.”
Owing to these challenges, he said the company could only record N20.774m revenue in 2017, but operating expenses stood at N26.735m, while loss before and after tax for the year was N5.96m.
Ellah, however, expressed hope that the Rivers State and federal governments, “will take necessary measures to bring lasting peace and security to the environment where we operate. This is so crucial to enable us to retain our staff in the locality and be rest assured that they are safe and that our assets are secured.”