Seplat Assets Dip Over ExxonMobil Acquisition Deal Failure

The assets of Seplat in the Nigerian capital market slumped to N930 on Thursday after the company’s share had started the week at N990 per share.

Naija News reports that the company’s assets traded at N960 between Tuesday and Wednesday before it recorded 6% at the end of the week’s trading.

The 6% dip in the asking price of Seplat was occasioned by sell-off among shareholders, as investors became wary of the oil & gas company’s future revenue generation, following uncertainty surrounding its deal with ExxonMobil.

Recall that Seplat had announced on February 25, 2022, that its management acquired Mobile Nigeria Producing Unlimited from ExxonMobil, with the deal awaiting government approval.

Days after the deal was announced, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited blocked the sales which made the acquisition fall through.

Some of the reasons reported included NNPC’s interest to takeover ExxonMobil’s share by triggering its right of refusal as co-investor in MNPU, as well as demanding to decommission of the oilfield before a sale can be approved.

Since the reports came out, investors’ view over Seplat has been bearish, resulting in a sell-off, after the acquisition announcement had propelled the bulls towards Seplat’s stock.

While Seplat has come out to deny those claims, the denial seems to be having no effect on the capital market’s sentiment towards the firm, as the asking price for the share continued to drop.

The 6% decline represents an N35.30 billion loss in the shareholders’ total investment in Seplat, which is now down to N547.25 billion, against the N582.56 billion they held at the opening of the capital market on Monday.