Heirs Energies buys six million Seplat shares in £53.2m transaction
Heirs Energies, controlled by Tony Elumelu, has acquired six million Seplat Energy shares for £53.2 million, according to a regulatory filing. The purchase lifts Heirs Energies’ holding to 4.67%, while entities controlled by Elumelu now hold a combined 21.07% voting interest in the energy company.
Heirs Energies, a company controlled by Tony Elumelu, has acquired six million ordinary shares in Seplat Energy for £53.2 million, according to a regulatory filing by Seplat. The filing, signed by Seplat’s Director of Legal and Company Secretary Edith Onwuchekwa, said the shares were bought at £8.87 each. The purchase represents about 1% of Seplat’s outstanding shares.
Seplat is listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market and the Nigerian Exchange. Following the transaction, Heirs Energies holds 27,943,867 Seplat shares, equivalent to 4.67% of the company. Heirs Energies and Heirs Holdings, both controlled by Elumelu, hold 126.4 million shares between them.
Their combined holding represents a voting interest of 21.07%, based on Seplat’s issued share capital of 599,944,561 shares. Elumelu is also a non-executive director of Seplat Energy. The filing records the transaction as a purchase by Heirs Energies, rather than as a direct personal acquisition by Elumelu.
The latest purchase follows Heirs Energies’ acquisition last year of the entire 20.07% stake previously held by Maurel & Prom. That deal involved 120.4 million ordinary shares and was valued at approximately $500 million. Seplat later clarified that the 20.07% interest was held by two ultimate controlling entities: Heirs Energies, with 3.658%, and Heirs Holdings, with 16.412%.
The company said Samuel Nwanze would act as proxy holder for Heirs Energies’ stake and Emmanuel Nnorom for Heirs Holdings’ stake, with both voting arrangements continuing indefinitely until further notice. Heirs Energies operates Oil Mining Lease 17 in the Niger Delta. The company says the asset produces 50,000 barrels of oil and 120 million cubic feet of gas daily, with reserves of more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil and 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
It also says the asset supplies fuel for more than 400 megawatts of electricity generation in Nigeria. Seplat Energy is a Nigerian independent energy company focused on oil and gas exploration, production and gas processing, mainly in the Niger Delta.
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