Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu’s company has agreed to acquire a 20% stake in the country’s largest oil exploration company by value as it expands its energy business.
Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings Ltd. will buy a stake in Seplat Energy Plc from France’s Etablissements Maurel & Prom SA for $496 million, the companies announced in a statement Wednesday. Shares in Seplat rose 11% in London, while Morel & Prom rose 8% in Paris.
The acquisition strengthens Elumelu’s energy ambitions. The businessman set up the heir in 2010 to invest in strategic sectors in the continent’s biggest oil exporter.
Elumelu said in a statement that the agreement “reflects our strong belief in Africa’s ability to own, develop and responsibly manage its strategic resources.” The African Export-Import Bank and the African Finance Corporation “supported” the transaction, the statement said.
Seplat acquired Exxon Mobil’s local onshore and gas assets last year, and its heirs acquired Shell’s assets in 2021.
President Bola Tinubu has taken steps to strengthen security, but most of Nigeria’s producers still lose a large portion of their production to theft and sabotage.
Morrell & Prom will sell the shares for 305 pence ($0.40) each. The heirs will initially pay $248 million, with the remainder to be paid within 30 days, the statement said.
The heirs have raised $750 million in financing from Afreximbank to expand production, the company said in a Dec. 22 statement.
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