By Agency reporter

Wednesday, 3 Nov 2010

First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited, on Tuesday, announced the acquisition of an equity interest in the company by African Capital Alliance, a leading Nigerian private equity firm.

The investment in the company, according to a statement, is non-dilutive to existing shareholders and ACA is committed to lending further support to other FHN projects in Nigeria.

According to a statement on Tuesday, ACA is an independent private equity firm, with $550m under management, investing in West Africa, principally in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.

The company was founded in 1997 with a mission to build Africa‘s premier private equity investment firm by mobilising capital, technology and management resources from local and international sources to unlock Africa‘s private sector potential.

Through its funds, ACA strives to improve the economic landscape of its markets and has become a dominant player in its space.

FHN was established in 2009 with the objective of increasing indigenous involvement in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

The company recently acquired an interest in SPDC operated OML 26 and will continue to acquire and develop substantial oil and gas assets in Nigeria from the joint ventures between NNPC and major international oil companies.

Fifty-five per cent of FHN is held by Nigerian institutions and investors and the company intends to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the future, providing an opportunity for all Nigerians to invest in the sector in due course.

The statement quoted a director of FHN, Alhaji Magaji Inuwa, as saying, ”We welcome one of Nigeria‘s leading private equity firms to the FHN shareholder register. ACA‘s reputation for investing in, and supporting the growth of, Nigerian ventures across all sectors is well recognised and we look forward to working with them to deliver on FHN‘s vision of increasing indigenous ownership in the upstream sector of the Nigerian economy.

“Following the acquisition of a 45 per cent interest in OML 26, FHN is focused on ensuring the optimum development of the field, while continuing to explore other acquisition opportunities.”

A director of ACA, Mr. Paul Kokoricha, was quoted as saying, ”The opportunity to invest in FHN is directly aligned to our growth investment strategy and commitment to provide support to develop the Nigerian indigenous sector.

“The obstacles to indigenous success in the upstream sector are well known and FHN‘s combination of access to Nigerian capital, growth of indigenous capacity, as well as the technical and operational excellence provided by their partners, Afren, are a strong basis for success.”

Source: Punch