ABC Orjiako rakes in N1.8bn from sale of 3.5m Seplat shares

Billionaire chairman of Seplat Petroleum Development Company plc, ABC Orjiako, is richer by N1.8 billion (£3.99 million) after selling 3.5 million units of ordinary shares he indirectly held in the company at £1.14 per share.

The transaction was done in London, United Kingdom, on August 1, 2019.

Following the share sale, Orjiako now holds a direct interest in 16.151 million ordinary shares and an indirect interest in 26.3 million ordinary shares of the company totalling 42.45 million shares which equate to a voting interest of 7.21 percent (based on Issued Share Capital of 588.44 million).

Analysis of the company’s share structure as at December 2018 indicates that 16.15m ordinary shares were held directly by ABC Orjiako and Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited while 29.8 million shares were held indirectly.

The sold shares are reg

istered in the name of Vitol Energy Limited held for the benefit of Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited, which is an entity controlled by ABC Orjiako and members of his family.

The company notified the Nigeria Stock Exchange ( NSE) on Monday about the share transaction in accordance with Rule 12 of the Amendments to the Listing Rules of the NSE and Article 19 of the EU Market Abuse Regulations.

Further breakdown of the indirect shares shows 16.3 million ordinary shares are held by Vitol Energy Limited for the benefit of Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited; 900,000 ordinary shares are held by Pursley Resources Limited, a company owned by Orjiako’s wife; and 12.6 million ordinary shares are held directly by Orjiako’s siblings.

The first-half (H1) 2019 results of Seplat further emphasise its strong cash generation potential even as it targets both organic and inorganic opportunities in the oil and gas industry to grow shareholder returns.