Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu buys 6 million more Seplat shares, lifting stake to 21%

Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu has bought 6 million more shares in Seplat Energy Plc, raising his combined stake in the Nigerian oil and gas producer to 21.07%.

The shares were bought by Heirs Energies Ltd, a company Elumelu controls, according to a regulatory filing Seplat published on Sept. 30. Heirs Energies paid £8.87 a share, or about £53.22 million, for the stake. Elumelu sits on Seplat's board as a non-executive director and will assume the role of Seplat Energy Chairman on January 1, 2027, succeeding retiring incumbent Udoma Udo Udoma..

The price is nearly three times what Heirs paid for its original holding. In December, Heirs Energies agreed to buy Maurel & Prom's entire 20.07% stake, 120.4 million shares, at 305 pence each, a deal worth $496 million.

The purchase lifts Heirs Energies' own holding to 27,943,867 shares. Together with Heirs Holdings Ltd, Elumelu's family-backed investment company, the two companies now own 126.4 million Seplat shares. That is 21.07% of Seplat's 599,944,561 issued shares, up from 120.4 million shares, or about 20.07%, before the deal.

Billionaires.Africa calculations show Elumelu's combined Seplat stake was worth about 2.02 trillion naira, or $1.52 billion, at the stock's Sept. 30 closing price of 16,000.10 naira on the Nigerian Exchange.

Elumelu is adding to his position after a sharp rally. Seplat shares rose 40.8% in the third quarter, from 11,363.90 naira on July 1 to 16,000.10 naira on Sept. 30. The stock has gained more than 175% since the start of the year. It hit a record 16,000 naira on Sept. 24 after rising 7.3% in a single session.

The rise lifted the value of the 120.4 million shares Elumelu held at the start of the quarter by about $459 million, from $991.3 million to $1.45 billion.

Crude prices climbed above $100 a barrel in September after disruption to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz cut supply, pushing investors into Nigerian oil producers. Seplat also reported a 74.1% rise in first-half profit before tax to 790.4 billion naira.

Seplat pumps oil and gas from onshore and shallow-water fields in the Niger Delta and is listed in Lagos and London. Because of that dual listing, the filing was made under both Nigerian Exchange rules and the UK Market Abuse Regulation. The company had a market value of about 9.6 trillion naira at the end of September, making it the sixth most valuable company on the Nigerian Exchange.