Aradel Holdings set to acquire ND Western through Swiss-based Petrolin’s 40% stake
Lagos-listed Aradel Holdings is snapping up a 40 per cent equity stake held by Geneva-based Petrolin Trading Limited in ND Western.
The company is one of its four consortium partners in the deal that bought Shell’s Nigerian onshore assets this year for $2.4 billion.
“Upon completion of this transaction, Aradel’s total shareholding in NDW will significantly increase, reinforcing its strategic position within Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector,” a regulatory disclosure said on Friday.
Petrolin Trading Limited is part of Petrolin Group, founded in the UK by Beninese oilman, Samuel Dossou-Aworet.
Aradel’s shareholding in ND Western is already 41.7 per cent, meaning its potential 81.7 per cent stake in the target company will establish it as the majority owner, setting the latter up to become a subsidiary in the group.
The acquisition requires the approval of the upstream sector watchdog, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to reach closure.
As industry rules for M&A deals involving oil mining lease (OML) and oil prospecting lease (OPL) demand, a ministerial consent must be in place also before the transaction can fly.
ND Western owns a 45 per cent participating interest in OML 34, situated in the western Niger Delta with both crude oil and associated gas reserves.
“In addition, NDW owns 50% of the share capital of Renaissance Africa Energy Holding Company Ltd, the parent company of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited which operates the Renaissance Joint Venture,” Aradel said in a statement.
Market sentiments had adversely tested Aradel’s pre-listing valuation of N3.4 trillion since its admission to the Nigerian Exchange a year ago, leaving market capitalisation sinking to as low as N1.7 trillion last November.
The stock fully got off the ground only this week to retouch the level last seen in October 2025, when it was quoted in Lagos after quitting trading at the over-the-counter market NASD OTC.
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In August, the group secured a $50 million financing deal from the International Finance Corporation to scale up the capacity of its modular refinery based in Ogbele, Rivers State, the first of its kind in the country, to 11,000 barrels per day from 1,000.
Revenue advanced by 37.2 per cent to N368.1 billion in the first half of the year, when net profit increased to N146.4 billion from N104.4 billion.
Total assets stood at N1.8 trillion at the end of the period, 3.5 per cent higher than six months ago.