Tony Elumelu Raises Seplat Stake to 21.07% with £53.2m Purchase

By Adedapo Adesanya

Heirs Energies, the energy investment company of Tony Elumelu, has acquired an additional six million units or 1 per cent stake in Seplat Energy Plc at the cost of about £53.22 million (N94 billion), bringing the total shareholding of the Heirs Holdings Group in the oil and gas company to 21.07 per cent.

With this investment, the value of his investment in Seplat is now about $1.5 billion.

The acquisition comes as Mr Elumelu is set to take over as Seplat’s Chairman on January 1, 2027, replacing Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, who will retire from the board on December 31, 2026.

Heirs Holdings bought a 20.07 per cent stake in Seplat, representing about 120.4 million shares, from French energy company Maurel & Prom in December 2025. The deal cost about $500 million at the time.

Since then, Seplat’s share price has risen strongly on both the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), pushing the value of Heirs Holdings’ stake above $1 billion.

According to Seplat, Heirs bought the six million units in London on Wednesday at a value of £8.87 per share totalling £53.22 million.

Seplat completed its acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited from ExxonMobil, significantly increasing its production and expanding its assets.

In 2025, Seplat’s revenue jumped 144 per cent to $2.73 billion, while the company also generated $1.17 billion in operating cash flow and reduced net debt to $673.3 million.