Nigerian oil and gas company Seplat has completed its purchase of Aberdeen based company Eland Oil & Gas for £382m.

The deal was first announced in October 2019, with Seplat valuing Eland at 166p a share. Following that announcement, the acquisition had to be approved by 75% of Eland shareholders.

It also had to be sanctioned by a court under part 26 of the Companies Act of 2006, which was agreed on 12 December. With every procedure now completed, Seplat has become the official owner of Eland.

Eland’s shares will be suspended from the 18 December, and every non-executive director of the company has now resigned with immediate effect. Eland’s chief executive George Maxwell and chief financial officer Ron Bain will remain at the company during the transition period.

Seplat CEO Austin Avuru said: “We are delighted to successfully complete the acquisition of Eland, which further enhances Seplat’s footprint in Nigeria and provides opportunities for enhanced scale, diversification and growth.

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“We welcome our new colleagues and Nigerian partners as we look forward to working together in this exciting phase of our development.”

Seplat’s stock price rose by 1.75% on the London Stock Exchange from 114p to 116p a share following the news. The company started the year at 114.50p and peaked at 134p on 14 May.

Seplat share price 2019


Eland had two operations in Nigeria that Seplat were interested in. It had a 45% equity stake OML 40 licence in the Niger Delta, which produced an average of 8,000 barrels of oil per day in 2018 and a 40% stake in the Ubima discovery well in Rivers State.