Mobil Oil Nigeria plc will in due course be renamed 11 plc, according its new majority shareholder, Nipco plc. But it will retain the Mobil brand. The exercise is in furtherance Nipco’s agreement with ExxonMobil.
According to Venkataraman Venkatapathy, group managing director, Nipco plc, in a press briefing, “it is with great pleasure that I witness the successful completion of the acquisition process of the 60 percent equity stake of ExxonMobil in Mobil Oil of Nigeria plc by Nipco plc, and therefore expressed appreciation to the shareholders and Nigerians for their patience for the period the exercise lasted. .
“Nipco plc (Nipco), an indigenous Nigerian downstream oil and gas company, is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of 60 percent stake in Mobil Oil Nigeria plc (MON) following due statutory approvals from the ‘Securities and Exchange Commission’ and the ‘Nigerian Stock Exchange.”
With the acquisition now completed, he said Nipco would review the two existing business models with an intent to synchronise and harmonise their operations.
Nipco intends ultimately that each of the entitles will remain and function independently, he said, saying that running the two entities separately will engender financial and strategic merits.
Focus, he said, will now be placed on expansion of the retail footprint under the Mobil brand, while concerted efforts will be deployed towards promoting the Mobil brand of lubricants in Nigeria to ensure that it captures a much larger national market share, while ensuring that it continues to retain its pivotal position as the premium lubricant brand in Nigeria.
While expressing Nipco plc sincere and profound gratitude to ExxonMobil for entrusting this invaluable asset to his company, Venkatapathy promised that Nipco would strive to justify this implicit confidence reposed in it by ensuring strict adherence to the Mobil brand, while complying with ExxonMobil’s global standards. “The company will rigorously sustain and follow ExxonMobil’s code of conduct, ethos and drive for operational excellence”.
Nipco, he stated, is delighted to be part of the 41,000 shareholders of MON and promising them that the company that this acquisition shall usher in stability, prosperity, sustainability and growth.
In a deal certain to boost confidence in the downstream segment of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, indigenous downstream company, NIPCO Plc, acquired a 60 per cent stake in Mobil Oil Nigeria (MON) Plc from, ExxonMobil.
Market watchers saw the transaction as a continuation of the divestment strategy by international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country.
The deal, the biggest in the downstream sector in recent years, is coming barely seven years after another US energy giant, Chevron Corporation, divested of its majority stake in Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc to another Nigerian indigenous downstream player, MRS Group.
