The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken possession of Gateway Portland Cement, following a court order against the company. Gateway owns “factories and facilities located in Abeokuta and Mowe areas of Ogun state” in Nigeria, AMCON said in a statement.
According to AMCON, Gateway owes nearly NGN3 billion (US$9.5 million) to the corporation, which was established in 2010 by an act of the Nigerian National Assembly to buy non-performing loans from distressed Nigerian banks in the wake of the Financial Crisis. Its mandate was intended to last a decade.
The takeover of Gateway is the latest move by AMCON to gain at least some repayment of the debts owed to the corporation. In March, it took over Arik Airline over unresolved debts.
According to AMCON’s Managing Director, the corporation had identified 350 accounts that represent about 80% of AMCON’s exposure to NGN2.5 trillion (7.9 billion). Taking over assets from these companies, remains “the only way AMCON’s mandate could be realised within the timeframe of the assignment and in the interest of the country’s economy.”
