Nigerian oil firm Seplat valued at $1.9bn

Lagos - Nigerian oil and gas firm Seplat has offered 26.4% of its shares in a combined market debut in Lagos and London that values the group at about $1.9bn.

The company, which has sold 143.2 million shares to investors, is raising 82.5bn naira ($500m) at a price of 576 naira and £2.10 per share respectively, the oil and gas firm said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange.

Conditional trading in the shares will start in London on Wednesday. Seplat is the first Nigerian company with dual listings in Lagos and London.

"Despite a challenging market for oil and gas stocks, the response has been excellent and demonstrates strong demand in both London and at home," Seplat chairperson Bryant Orjiako said in a statement.

Seplat plans to use the net proceeds from the offer to acquire new oil assets and pay down debt and a shareholder loan of $48m.

French Bank BNP Paribas and South Africa's Standard Bank acted as joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners with Renaissance Securities, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets.

Seplat said it has an option to issue additional 10.33 million shares to international investors over the next 30 days.