Oando Plc has secured a $650 million loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support its $783 million acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC). Afreximbank announced the funding on its official website on Friday.
The loan package includes both senior and junior reserve-based lending facilities. Specifically, Afreximbank provided $500 million in senior credit and $150 million in junior reserve-based lending.
This loan is a key part of Oando’s recent acquisition of NAOC from Italian oil giant Eni, a deal reported by Nairametrics on Thursday. The acquisition was completed for $783 million, with Afreximbank’s funding playing a crucial role.
Afreximbank also played several roles in this transaction, including book-runner, coordinator, underwriter, escrow agent, facility agent, and security trustee. The bank underwrote $350 million of the total facility.
Haytham Elmaayergi, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President of Global Trade, highlighted that this financing significantly boosts local content within Africa’s oil and gas sector. He noted that supporting indigenous companies like Oando helps foster economic growth and sustainable development in Africa.
Wale Tinubu, Oando’s Group Chief Executive, praised Afreximbank for its crucial role in bridging the trade finance gap in Africa. He expressed that this deal marks the culmination of a decade of effort and ambition, beginning with Oando’s entry into the Joint Venture through acquiring ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian assets in 2014.
The acquisition enhances Oando’s presence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by increasing its participating interest in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 60, 61, 62, and 63 from 20% to 40%. This expansion gives Oando control over 40 oil and gas fields, with 24 currently in production.
Additionally, Oando’s assets now include key infrastructure such as approximately 1,490 kilometers of pipelines, three gas processing plants, the Brass River Oil Terminal, and the KwaleOkpai power plants, which have a combined capacity of 960 MW.
