Shareholders of Nipco Plc have applauded the move to acquire 60 per cent of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc from Exxon Mobil Oil Corporation, United States.
Nipco Plc has signed an undertaking to acquire the 216,257,137 ordinary shares of Mobil Oil Nigeria for $301 million, subject to price adjustments for dividends and other factors.
At an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) held in Abuja, shareholders of Nipco lauded the acquisition and authorised the board to stand as Surety/Guarantor for Nipco Investments Limited,(its fully owned subsidiary) in its bid for the acquisition of the shares.
The shareholders also approved the guaranty dated 26th September, 2016 given by Nipco for the benefit of ExxonMobil Corporation in connection with the acquisition by Nipco Investments Limited of the sale shares.
EGM, one of the shareholders, Alhaji Sani Yau said the feat undertaken by the company is a commendable one, adding that it has further shown the firm’s level of confidence in the Nigerian economy.
According to him, the fact that Nipco had in the last 12 years focused exclusively on the downstream sector will give it necessary confidence and wherewithal to effectively position the company as an industry leader within the shortest possible time.
He maintained that the confidence reposed in Nipco to put Mobil Oil back into the leadership stride in the sector has stated to manifest in the upward rise of its shares by over 55 per cent since the news of the acquisition broke out.
The shareholder said the acquisition would make the group combined retail outlets to grow to about 500 stations bearing in mind that retailing offers veritable opportunities for upward growth in the downstream sector.
Earlier, the Managing Director, Nipco, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy said the acquisition was as a result of ExxonMobil selecting Nipco as the preferred bidder for the 60 per cent equity after a rigorous bidding process.
The MD, who represented the Chairman of Nipco, Chief Bestman Anekwe, said the acquisition is an important synergy and part of a strategic to support NIPCO continuous growth and expansion in the retail sector of the oil and gas industry. He said the company would continue to maintain the Mobil brand at its retail outlets as well as continue to blend and sell Mobil brand of lubricants under blending licence from ExxonMobil.
