Aliko Dangote says acquisitions come next as Goldman Sachs tours his $40 billion refinery

Aliko Dangote has spent his career building rather than buying. He told a visiting Goldman Sachs delegation on Wednesday that the next phase will include acquisitions.

Anthony Gutman, co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International and global co-head of investment banking, spent the day touring Dangote's refinery and fertilizer complex at Lekki with senior colleagues from the firm. A private placement in July priced the refinery at about $40 billion, and a listing that could raise $5 billion is weeks away.

"No matter how we try to explain what we have built, you cannot fully appreciate it until you see it," Dangote said. "But this is only the beginning. We need to look beyond 2030. The next phase of our journey will include new investments and acquisitions as we continue to scale the business."

Dangote Industries is targeting $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030 under its Vision 2030 plan. Acquisitions would be a departure from the model that produced the cement, sugar and refining businesses.

The Goldman executives were complimentary in the way visiting bankers usually are. They described the ambition, scale and quality of the project as extraordinary, and singled out the culture of the workforce. No mandate was announced and no transaction was disclosed.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has filed with Nigeria's securities regulator for an offering seeking about $5 billion, targeting an October conclusion, in what would be the largest share sale in African history. The July placement covered roughly 6 percent of the company at the $40 billion valuation and drew subscriptions of 3.7 times the offer. That figure is what investors paid in a private round, not a market price, since the company has yet to list.

Gutman follows a queue. Sim Tshabalala brought Standard Bank executives to Lekki in June and committed the continent's largest lender to a leading role in the offering. Femi Otedola arrived with First HoldCo executives in May. Frank Mwiti of the Nairobi Securities Exchange came in April. Congo's national oil company sent a delegation in July.

The delegation also included Adib Zouein, who covers emerging markets and the Middle East and North Africa, Jimi Adesanya, who heads sub-Saharan Africa sales outside South Africa, and Ryad Yousuf, global head of FICC sales strategy and structuring. Devakumar Edwin and refinery chief executive David Bird hosted alongside Dangote.

Nigeria's regulator is expected to clear a prospectus in September.