Otedola raises shareholding in FBN Holdings to 11.6%

Billionaire tycoon Femi Otedola bought 797.7 million new shares in the financial services group FBN Holdings, the lender said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

With the transaction, Mr Otedola secured a top ownership position in the holding company.

The transaction worth N17.2 billion was conducted on Monday, according to a regulatory filing seen by PREMIUM TIMES, implying that the majority owner of Geregu Power has splurged more than N36 billion on FBN Holdings in less than a week.

Last Thursday, Mr Otedola procured 863.2 million shares in two separate deals that accounted for more than 99 per cent of the trading activities of the corporation.

While he purchased 316.5 million units valued at N6.9 billion directly in his name, he acquired 546.7 million units through his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited, in a deal estimated at N12 billion.

The Thursday acquisition helped Mr Otedola, who is the chairman of FBN Holdings’ board of directors, regain his position as the biggest shareholder, having lost the coveted honour last year to Barbican Capital Limited in which Obafemi Otudeko, the group’s former chairman, has significant control.

With the new acquisition, Mr Otedola’s holding now stands at 11.6 per cent compared to Mr Otudeko’s 8.7 per cent.

FBN Holdings has shed 15.1 per cent of its market value since the beginning of the year, placing it in the 130th position in terms of performance of the 154 stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

The group reported a fourfold leap in net profit to N208.2 billion in the first quarter of the year. Total assets stood at N21.6 trillion compared to N16.9 trillion at the end of last year.

In January, Mr Otedola spent N6 billion in acquiring shares in Dangote Cement Plc, currently Nigeria’s biggest company by market capitalisation with a valuation of N11.2 trillion.

Shares in Geregu Power, where Mr Otedola holds the controlling stake, has returned 900 per cent since the company went public in October 2022.