Rainoil completes acquisition of major stake in Eterna Plc

Rainoil Limited has completed the acquisition of majority shares in Eterna Plc, a publicly listed oil and gas company.

Through its investment arm, Preline Limited, Rainoil acquired 794,969,774 ordinary shares of Eterna Plc, representing 60.98 percent.

With this deal, Rainoil becomes the largest shareholder in Eterna Plc.

Last December, Eterna Plc issued a public statement notifying shareholders and regulators about plans by substantial shareholders to sell equity holdings.

In a regulatory filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Tuesday, Eterna Plc announced the completion of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Preline Limited.

“We refer to Eterna Plc’s (“the Company”) public statement dated 23rd August 2021 in which the Company had notified the general public that some of its substantial shareholders (Lenux Integrated Resources Limited, Global Energy & Raw Materials Limited, Meristem Wealth Management Limited, Radix Capital Partners Limited, GASL Nominee Limited, GTI Capital Limited and Cardinalstone Partners Limited) (Shareholders), had formally informed the Board of the Company that they had executed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the Shareholders and Preline Limited for the sale of 794,969,774 (Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Million Nine Hundred and Sixty Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Four) ordinary shares in the Company representing 60.98% shareholding in the Company,” Bunmi Agagu, Eterna Plc secretary, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are pleased to announce to the general public; that following the granting of ‘the authority to proceed’ by FCCPC, SEC and NGX and the fulfilment of all other regulatory requirements; Preline Limited has completed the acquisition of 794,969,774 (Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Four) ordinary shares of the Company representing 60.98% in the Company, thus making it the largest and majority shareholder in the Company.

“This notification is in fulfilment of our disclosure obligations in line with Regulatory guidelines and our corporate responsibility to our stakeholders.”

Commenting on the transaction, Gabriel Ogbechie, group managing director, Rainoil Limited, said: “The acquisition is in alignment with our targeted expansion strategy across the oil and gas value chain, and will position the Company for sustainable growth and superior value creation for all our stakeholders. It also underlines our commitment to Nigeria at this critical evolution point of the Energy Sector.

“We also expect that this will reinvigorate the fortunes of Eterna Plc and optimize the Company for improved performance.”

With the addition of Eterna, Rainoil Limited has recently increased its asset base to include three ultra-modern petroleum product storage depots in Delta, Cross River and Lagos.