16 April 2014

The Nigerian oil and gas company Seplat made its unconditional trading debut yesterday, as the first Nigerian company to ever have its ordinary shares dual listed on both the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges. Standard Bank Group acted as joint global co-ordinator and joint book runner. Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, a member of Standard Bank Group, acted as joint issuing house in Nigeria.

The transaction is the largest in Sub-Saharan African (excluding South Africa) since 2008.

Proceeds of the initial public offering (IPO) will allow Seplat to further implement its business strategy, which includes acquiring new Nigerian assets and expanding its development programme, which is in line with the company's ongoing growth aspirations.

Seplat intends to pursue an acquisition strategy in oil and gas focused on maintaining a balanced portfolio of assets in Nigeria with development opportunities and potential for exploration in order to add value by increasing production and cash flows in the near term.

Standard Bank Group, including Stanbic IBTC, has been working together with Seplat to align the IPO process in both the London and Nigerian markets. The innovative offer structure ensured Seplat captured the maximum investor attention both in Nigeria and Internationally from a range of investor types. Among the activities done, Standard Bank Group and Stanbic IBTC hosted Seplat in over 130 investor meetings during roadshows in Nigeria, the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa and Asia.

Over 300 investors participated in the IPO, which led to a significant over subscription and the shares trading up upon listing. The order book consisted of high quality pension, asset management, insurance funds and high-net-worth individuals in Nigeria and blue chip institutional investors globally. About half the investors originated in Nigeria: again showing the increasing depth of African capital markets.

Simon Matthews, Head of Equity Capital Markets at Standard Bank Group, says: "Our teams worked tirelessly to align the Nigerian and London IPO processes to ensure Seplat could capture the growing interest for Nigerian and African equities. The IPO was a first of its kind in Nigeria incorporating an international standard bookbuilding and settlement process.

"The significant investor interest in the IPO generated by our sales teams globally is a testament to the achievements of the Seplat management team and the growing investment opportunities in Nigeria. Seplat's IPO has created a blueprint for future transactions in the region as the African equity capital markets enjoy a period of increasing investor attention, liquidity and capital inflow."

Read more about Seplat at http://seplatpetroleum.com.

For further information on Standard Bank Group's expertise in corporate and invesment banking go to www.standardbank.com/cib.

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