CHAIRMAN of First Bank Holdings Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola has once again increased his stake in the company, further cementing his position as the single largest shareholder of the financial services giant.
In a notice to the NGX, the billionaire confirmed that he had acquired an additional 797,946,415 shares of the company at an average price of N21.58. The transaction value of the new acquisition amounts to a staggering N17.2 billion.
This latest acquisition takes his combined stake to 11.64 per cent, making him the only shareholder of the bank with a total shareholding exceeding 10 per cent.
Last week, it was reported that the billionaire acquired N18.9 billion worth of shares, which increased his shareholding to 9.41 per cent. The latest acquisition brings the total to N36.1 billion in a number of days.
Otedola now holds a combined 4.178 billion shares of the company’s total outstanding shares of 35.895 billion. According to findings, Femi Otedola, one of only four Nigerian billionaires listed by Forbes, has invested an estimated N102 billion since he began acquiring FBN Holdings’ shares three years ago.
The pursuit of a majority stake in FBN Holdings has been a dynamic journey, beginning in October 2021 when Femi Otedola first announced that he had secured a 5.07% shareholding.
Following this, in December 2021, Otedola increased his stake further to 7.57%, marking a significant leap.
By mid-2022, Otedola reduced his stake to 5.24%, divesting approximately 30% of his shareholding in the group. However, he started acquiring shares in the bank again in 2023 as controversy over who owned the majority stake in the bank remained. After a review and confirmation by the Central Bank, only two shareholders stood out as having over 5% of FBN Holdings shares: Oba Otudeko’s Barbican Capital and Femi Otedola.
At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Otedola’s shareholding in the bank was confirmed at 7.01%, up from 5.65% at the end of 2023, officially surpassing Otudeko as the single largest shareholder.
The latest acquisition now gives him a commanding 11.64% majority shareholding of the financial holding company.
Previously known for his vast investments in the energy sector, Otedola’s foray into the financial services space now makes him the only Nigerian billionaire (in dollars) to own a majority stake in a commercial bank in the country. He is also one of the single largest shareholders of any financial services company in Nigeria.
