* Gets shareholders' approval to raise 200 bln naira
* To invest fresh funds in expansion and new acquisitions
* To seek capital from local and international markets (Updates with company statement, rewrites through)
By Chijioke Ohuocha
LAGOS, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria's top fuel retailer and gas distributor Oando Plc has received shareholders' approval to raise 200 billion naira ($1.34 billion) through debt and equity over the next two years to expand its business, the company said on Monday.
Oando has been investing in oil exploration and production over the last few years to try and diversify its low-margin fuel retail business and take advantage of plans to deregulate the sector.
Oando, which is also listed on the Johannesburg bourse, said the fresh cash will be used to expand its business in the mid and upstream oil and gas sectors, including oil exploration and expansion of its oil rig fleet and gas distribution pipeline.
"We will now proceed to get necessary approvals from regulatory authorities in Nigeria and South Africa with a view to commencing the fund-raising this quarter," Oando Chief Executive Wale Tinubu said in a statement.
He said the structure and methodology of the fund-raiser, which would include various financing options across multiple markets, would be announced in due course.
Chief Financial Officer Femi Adeyemo told Reuters earlier on Monday the company was working on a total package, adding that the debt would be a shelf registration programme, while the equity option would be raised either locally or internationally.
Company sources had said cash raised from the sale of new shares and bond issue would also be used for more acquisitions and to restructure Oando's short-term bank loans to longer-term.
Tinubu told Reuters in January the company, which sells or distributes one in five litres of petroleum products in Africa's most populous nation, planned to produce 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil by 2013.
The company was also targeting 300 million barrels of proven and probable reserves over the same period.
Oando bought a 15 percent stake in two deep-water oil blocks for $197 million from Italian firm Eni in January and said it was looking to acquire more assets which were near production or already producing.
The company signed a $150 million two-year drilling contract with Agip in May and acquired two inland barge rigs from Anglo Dutch energy firm Shell at an estimated $43.5 million, bringing the number of its rigs to five.
Oando is also a key player in gas infrastructure in Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, operating a 200 km distribution pipeline in the commercial capital Lagos and southeastern Nigeria. ($1 = 149.75 naira) (Additional reporting and writing by Tume Ahemba; Editing by Rupert Winchester)