Elumelu Increases Seplat Stake To 21% With £53 Million Share Purchase

Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu has bought another 6 million shares in Seplat Energy Plc, raising his stake in the country’s biggest listed oil producer to 21.07%. He paid nearly three times the price of his first purchase nine months ago.

Elumelu’s 21.07% stake is now worth ₦2.022 trillion or $1.44 billion.

Brand News Day Nigeria report that Heirs Energies Ltd., a company Elumelu controls, bought the shares at £8.87 each in London on September 30, according to a company filing. The deal cost about £53.2 million, or roughly N93.8 billion at the official exchange rate. Elumelu’s companies now hold 126.4 million of Seplat’s 599.9 million shares, up from 120.4 million, or 20.07%.

The price was high. Elumelu paid about 16% more than Seplat’s London closing price of 764 pence that day, which suggests a privately negotiated block trade.

The filing does not name the seller. The price is about 2% below Seplat’s Lagos value of N16,000.10, or roughly £9.08, because Seplat’s shares trade higher in Lagos than in London.

In December 2025, Heirs bought its first 20.07% from France’s Maurel & Prom for about $496 million, or roughly £3.05 a share. At £8.87, his full stake is now worth about £1.12 billion.

Seplat’s earnings support the bet. Revenue rose 30% to $1.82 billion in the first half of 2026, and profit after tax jumped 498% to $164 million, as production averaged 139,509 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Management raised full-year dividend guidance to $0.45 a share.

Elumelu sits on Seplat’s board, and MoneyCentral reported in June that he was to be its next chairman.

At 21.07%, he remains well below the 30% level that typically triggers a mandatory takeover offer.