Dangote buys 12m barrels of crude oil from United States for refinery operations - ITREALMS

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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has advanced plans to buy some 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States, reports ITREALMS.

The refinery resorted to crude importation as local supply challenges hindered the new $20bn refinery’s push to reach full refining capacity.

NCM buys sabinews.com from Toni Kan in landmark deal – ITREALMS

MediaWatch@ITREALMS:

In what has been described as a multi-million naira deal, Toni Kan and Peju Akande have sold sabinews.com to owners of New Concept Media (NCM) group, an offshoot of one of Africa’s biggest e-commerce conglomerate, reports ITREALMS.

Toni Kan, ITREALMS recalls, is a renowned writer, journalist, and teacher, alongside his partner Peju Akande confirmed selling their news website sabinews.com which debutin May 2014. The site quickly established itself as an ethical and professionally well run news website featuring a roster of skillful and very insightful columnists.

Two years after launch, Sabinews was described by reboot.org a US based social impact firm, in a survey of African websites as one of the best niche websites in West Africa which has “employed the power of differentiation to set itself apart and win the loyalty of audiences comparable to much bigger organisations.”

Harping on sabinews.com’s USP, the firm further described it as “a digital news and opinions platform known for its popular columnists. The site features a roster of social and political commentators whose analysis of current events run from bitingly critical to refreshingly entertaining.”

The duo of Toni Kan and Peju Akande announced that the site was bought by New Concept Media an offshoot of one of Africa’s biggest e-commerce conglomerate in a multi-million naira deal.

In a statement signed by Peju Akande on behalf of the duo, she said, ‘It’s not about the money, it’s about making history as a Nigerian online news organization, they came to us because we were ethical, professional and well run and we hope that news of our sale will spur other people like us to follow the ethical and professional path especially in this era of fake news.’

Toni Kan and Peju Akande have launched a new website, thisislagos.ng which is more metro oriented and video centric.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Pix: Peju Akande and Toni Kan

Silvertree buys Nigeria’s TopCheck, Thomas Pilar to step aside

ITRealms:

One of the Africa’s leading Internet service providers, Silvertree Internet Holdings, has bought over the Nigerian price comparison site TopCheck for an undisclosed amount, reports ITRealms.

TopCheck, ITRealms gathered is a Nigeria’s leading price comparison site for financial services offering free online comparison for insurance products, loans, and broadband internet plans. While Silvertree Internet Holding is a Cape Town based Internet holding company which owns and operates Internet assets across Africa.

One of the TopCheck founding fathers, Thomas Pilar, confirmed to ITRealms that the website recorded fast growth in 2016, processing up to 3 billion Naira (10 million USD) in Gross Application Value per month.

In addition, ITRealms gathered that TopCheck was founded by European entrepreneurs Christian Wiesner Jose Figueiredo and Thomas Pilar in 2014, and headquartered in Lagos and Berlin. The startup, that dubs itself the “Moneysupermarket of Africa”, had raised 1 million Euros in venture capital in 2015.

He also noted, TopCheck will join Silvertree’s subsidiary Compare Africa Group (CAG), is active in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, and offers online price comparison of goods and services through various websites. The group owns financial services websites Compareguru, as well as product comparison site PriceCheck, which was recently acquired from Naspers.

Silvertree has been very active in acquiring Nigerian tech companies in the past, having taken over Nigerian insured (dot) ng from Spark (2015) and deals site Dealdey (2016) from Kinnevik.

“The TopCheck team is excited to join forces with Compare Africa Group. Together, we are forming Africa’s undisputed leader in price comparison”, said TopCheck founder Thomas Pilar. “While our two companies had been competitors before, our strategies are completely in line: to be the number one online destination to acquire financial services in Africa. With TopCheck’s market position in Nigeria, and Silvertree’s wide reach throughout Africa, we look forward to further accelerating the company’s growth across the continent.”

Manuel Koser, co-founder and MD of Silvertree, explained the enormous potential in the comparison space: “We want to replicate the success of Check24 in the German financial services and insurance comparison space. TopCheck joining our portfolio is another step in building Africa’s largest comparison conglomerate.”

With this development, ITRealms also gathered that Christian Wiesner and Thomas Pilar will step aside as managing directors, but will continue to work with CAG as advisors. Ryan Marx, CAG’s MD, will be heading TopCheck with immediate effect. “I am very happy that Christian and Thomas will continue to advise Compare Africa Group with their vast expertise in the Nigerian financial sector”, said Marx.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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