Nigeria’s biggest cement producer Dangote Cement has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to merge its operations with Benue Cement , the commission said on Monday.

The deal could involve listing the new entity, which would be Nigeria’s first new public share offering since a 2008 stock market crash and could produce one of the country’s largest companies by market capitalisation, analysts said.

Dangote Cement is the 100 per cent owner of Obajana Cement, the Nigeria’s biggest cement plant, and is owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote. Dangote Cement holds a 75 per cent stake in Benue, according to its annual report.

“We have received an application for the combination of Benue Cement and Obajana Cement,” SEC spokesman Lanre Oloyi told Reuters, without giving any further details. The stock exchange is expected to consider the planned move at a meeting this week, according to a source familiar with the planned deal, who asked not to be named.

Dangote Cement said last November it planned to put all of its operations into one business and float the company. It has been considering a listing in London. Dangote Cement is part of Dangote Group, one of the biggest indigenous conglomerates in Nigeria.