UAC

UAC of Nigeria traces its origins to 1879, making it the oldest surviving business institution in Nigeria, with interests spanning packaged food and beverages, paints, animal feed and edible oils, logistics, real estate, and quick service restaurants. The defining event of its recent history was the completion, on 3 October 2025, of its acquisition of C.H.I. Limited, the producer of Chivita and Hollandia, from The Coca-Cola Company, for a reported consideration of roughly ₦180.40 billion.

The transaction fundamentally reshaped the Group's scale: full-year 2025 Group revenue rose 74% year-on-year to ₦343.4 billion, and momentum carried into 2026, with first-quarter revenue climbing 241% to ₦191.2 billion and profit after tax rising to ₦13.6 billion from ₦3.3 billion, as the Packaged Food & Beverages segment, now dominated by the consolidated C.H.I. business, accounted for approximately 84% of Group revenue and 90% of operating profit. Group Managing Director Folasope Aiyesimoju described 2025 as a strategic inflexion point for the Group, and UACN's share price had returned 64% year-to-date by the end of Q1, lifting market capitalisation to roughly ₦482.8 billion.

The acquisition has come with financial trade-offs, including sharply higher net finance costs on borrowings taken to fund the transaction (up to ₦16 billion in H1 2026 from ₦3.6 billion a year earlier) and a decline in return on invested capital to 25% from 40%, a function of the Group's larger post-acquisition capital base; the quick service restaurant business also continued to operate at a loss, though narrower than in prior periods. Beyond the C.H.I. integration, UAC's core operating businesses continued incremental growth, with CAP Plc adding 42 new retail touchpoints and growing paints segment revenue by 12% in the first half of 2026.