Seplat Energy Plc has repaid the remaining $100 million of the debt it raised to finance its acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian oil and gas assets, bringing all acquisition-related borrowing for the transaction to an end.
The company disclosed this on Thursday, October 29, 2026, in its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.
The repayment comes nearly two years after Seplat completed its acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil Corporation in December 2024.
Seplat had earlier reduced the advance payment facility (APF) used to finance the acquisition. In the second quarter of 2026, the company repaid and cancelled $200 million of the facility, leaving $100 million outstanding at the end of September. It cleared the remaining balance on October 27, two days before releasing its nine-month results.
In its financial report, Seplat stated that, “On 27 October, the Company repaid the $100 million balance on the APF. As such, all debt raised to acquire MPNU in 2024 has been repaid.”
The repayment also reflects an improvement in the company’s overall debt position. Seplat reported net debt of $234.9 million at the end of September 2026, a 65% reduction from $673.3 million recorded at the end of 2025.
Its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio also fell to 0.14 times from 0.53 times over the same period, showing a reduction in debt relative to the company’s earnings.
Seplat’s acquisition of MPNU dates back to February 25, 2022, when it announced an agreement to purchase ExxonMobil’s Nigerian shallow-water oil and gas assets for $1.28 billion. However, regulatory and legal challenges delayed the transaction for more than two years.
In October 2024, the Federal Government approved ExxonMobil’s sale of the assets to Seplat following regulatory clearance. The approval was confirmed by Gbenga Komolafe, then Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Seplat completed the acquisition on December 12, 2024, officially taking over MPNU from ExxonMobil in a transaction that expanded its operations in Nigeria’s shallow-water oil and gas sector.
source: nairametrics.com
African Energy Council