Foods Plc, one of the closely held businesses of Nigerian billionaire industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu, completed the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Exchange on Wed., Jan. 5, after it received the requisite approvals from the regulatory authorities.

Consequently, the net worth of Rabiu, the majority owner of one of Africa’s fastest-growing cement makers, BUA Cement, rose by nearly $1.9 billion to $7.2 billion thanks to the valuation of BUA Foods.

His current net worth eclipsed the $6.6-billion wealth valuation of Nigerian telecom mogul Mike Adenuga.

The consolidated food business is an operating unit of BUA Group, a well-diversified manufacturing conglomerate founded by Rabiu in 1988. The listing of 18 billion shares at N40 ($0.0968) each gave the food-processing firm an implied valuation of N720 billion ($1.74 billion).

As of press time, Jan. 6, shares in BUA Foods were worth N44 ($0.1065), 10-percent higher than their implied price. At the current price, the market capitalization of the consolidated food business increased to N792 billion ($1.92 billion).

The value bump caused Rabiu’s fortune to increase from $5.3 billion to $7.2 billion.

His net-worth valuation includes the market value of his 92-percent stake in his cement business, which is valued at $5.3 billion. The addition of his new business makes him Nigeria’s second-richest man ahead of Mike Adenuga, the founder of Globacom, Nigeria’s third-largest telecom company.

Upon the listing of BUA Foods’ shares, the newly formed entity became the largest consumer goods company by market capitalization after Nestle Nigeria Plc, the Nigerian subsidiary of the Switzerland-based consumer goods giant, Nestle S.A.

The successful listing of its shares comes nearly a month after BUA Group spun off its five food businesses, including BUA Sugar Refinery Limited, BUA Oil Mills Limited, IRS Flour, IRS Pasta and BUA Rice Limited.

The group confirmed that the merging of its food businesses into a newly consolidated food company known as BUA Foods will help the conglomerate maintain its leadership status in the agribusiness and food-processing sectors.

While speaking about his food business, Rabiu noted that listing the shares would help people realize the true value chain of the business and assist in dealing with Nigeria’s food crisis.

“A lot of people do not know the size of this business, that is why we decided to merge all the food businesses into one entity. Now that we have done that, people will understand and appreciate the business,” he said.