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Mobil Oil Nigeria, a leading petroleum marketing company, said today that its majority shareholder, Exxon Mobil Corporation, has agreed to divest its 60 percent stake to Nipco Investments Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nipco Plc, for an undisclosed fee.

“Mobil Oil Nigeria plc has been informed by its majority shareholder, Exxon Mobil Corporation, that the shareholder has agreed, subject to regulatory approvals, to sell its shares representing 60 percent of Mobil Oil Nigeria’s shares to Nipco Investments Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nipco Plc,” the company said in a terse statement released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

With the purchase of Exxon Mobil’s stake in Mobil Oil Nigeria, Nipco Plc will directly and indirectly own 65.5 percent of the issued share capital of the downstream marketer, according to Cardinal Stone Partners, a Lagos-based investment advisory firm.

Founded in 1951, Mobil Oil Nigeria is one of the three Nigerian subsidiaries of the American multinational oil and gas corporation. (The other two subsidiaries are Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria and Mobil Producing Nigeria). The company operates over 200 retail outlets across the country and an ultra-modern lube oil blending plant. In the 2015 financial year, Mobil Oil Nigeria said pre-tax profit fell 18 percent year-on-year to N6.91 billion while revenues fell 19.3 percent to N64.22 billion.

Nipco Plc is an indigenous integrated oil and gas company that was founded in 2004. The company became a major petroleum marketer in 2013 and recorded a turnover of over N114 billion last year. Also as of 2015, Nipco had over 150 branded retail outlets across the country, with a projection to exceed 200 outlets in 2016.