Goddy Egene
Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, the completed transfer of the business activities and assets of OMLs 4, 38 and 41 from the holding company to its wholly owned subsidiary, Seplat West Limited.
In a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, Seplat said the transfer, which is effective January 1, 2020, and will not result in any change to the current business strategy for any of the assets nor will it affect the way in which the Seplat Group commercially operates.
“The transfer of OMLs 4, 38 and 41 out of Seplat Plc into Seplat West results in seven wholly owned subsidiaries-Newton Energy Limited; Seplat Petroleum Development Company UK Limited; Seplat East Onshore Limited; Seplat East Swamp Company Limited; Seplat Gas Company Limited; Eland Oil and Gas Limited and Seplat West Limited, with no operating oil and gas assets directly held in the holding company. The new structure of the Seplat Group is consistent with Seplat’s efforts to simplify its structure and designed towards segregating the businesses of the group in a more efficient manner thereby reducing risk, cost and complexity,” the company said.
According to Seplat, this is also expected to result in a simplified management and reporting framework for the group.
“The outcome of the transfer will not, in anyway, result in loss of tax revenue to the government or an extinguishment of liabilities. Similarly, it will not diminish shareholder value in (and returns from) Seplat as a listed company,” it added.
Following discussions with the credit ratings agencies, the transfer is not expected to impact the ratings of the Group.
