Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has reclaimed his position as the majority shareholder of FBN Holdings, the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest lender First Bank.
Otedola achieved this feat after buying additional shares in the company overtaking First Bank’s previous chairman Oba Otudeko.
According to regulatory filings with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Otedola, who is also the chair of the board of directors at FBN Holdings, acquired 863.2 million shares of FBN Holdings.
The Forbes-listed billionaire made the purchase in two transactions. He acquired 546.7 million units through his investment firm, Calvados Global Services Limited for N12 billion and personally bought another 316.5 million shares valued at N6.9 billion($4.57 million).
Before this acquisition, Otedola held a 7.01% stake in FBN Holdings, with 6.98% held indirectly through Calvados Global Services Limited and 0.03% held by him directly. The newly acquired shares increase his stake in the company to 9.4%, surpassing former chairman Otudeko who holds 8.7% through Barbican Capital Limited.
In a nutshell, Otedola’s shares in FBN Holdings are now at 3.3 billion up from the previous 2.5 billion shares. Meanwhile, Otudeko holds 3.1 billion direct shares.
Femo Otedola Vs Oba Otudeko
The latest acquisition intensifies the ongoing power struggle among the financial services group’s principal shareholders.
Otedola’s entry into FBN Holdings began in 2021 when he started purchasing large volumes of shares through off-market deals. He ended up overtaking Tunde Hassan-Odukale, First Bank’s former chairman as the leading shareholder. His acquisitions were disclosed publicly after exceeding the 5% threshold. Soon after he acquired more shares raising his stake to 7.57%.
In 2022, the business mogul divested about 30% of his shares reducing his stake to 5.24%. However, in 2023, Otudeko joined in on the power struggles and started giving Otedola a run for his money. Otudeko raised his shares in the company to 8.67% claiming the spot of majority shareholder.
However, at the time FBN did not list Otudeko as a majority shareholder despite acknowledging that it had received a notification from Honeywell Group Limited, that its affiliate, Barbican Capital had acquired 4,770,269,843 shares in the company.
This failure to list Otudeko as a top shareholder was majorly due to the controversy surrounding his Barbican Capital investment, with Ecobank warning FBN against accepting Otudeko’s acquisition over an alleged N13.5 billion($8.95 million) debt.
In January 2024, Otedola was appointed chairperson of the board of FBN Holdings Plc. However, there were concerns among stakeholders about Otudeko’s potential influence in the organisation, especially after FBN officially acknowledged his 2023 acquisition and listed him among top shareholders in February 2024.
Now, Otedola has decided to change the power dynamics and cement his position as chairman.
The tycoon now has majority shares in two prominent Nigerian companies, FBN Holdings Limited and Geregu Power PLC.
The billionaire has the second-largest shareholding in individual shareholding in a publicly listed bank. Otedola only comes second to Jim Ovia who owns 11.29% of Zenith Bank
