FBN Holdings Confirms Otedola as Shareholder with 5.07% Stake

By Dipo Olowookere

Mr Femi Otedola now controls a 5.07 per cent stake in FBN Holdings Plc, the company has confirmed.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the financial institution said it was not aware of the businessman being a major investor in the organisation.

There were reports a day earlier that the former Chairman of the defunct Forte Oil Plc was now the single largest shareholder of the firm, which owns First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

“The attention of FBN Holdings Plc has been drawn to media reports today, October 22, 2021, purporting that a certain individual has acquired a significant shareholding interest in FBN Holdings Plc, therefore, making him the majority shareholder in the company.

“As a listed company, the shares of FBN Holdings Plc are publicly traded, and sale and acquisition of shares is expected in the normal course of business. We operate in a regulated environment, which requires notification of significant shareholding by shareholders to the company, where shares are held in different vehicles, further to which the company will notify the regulators and the public as appropriate.

“The company is yet to receive any notification from the individual mentioned in the media report, of such acquisitions.

“FBN Holdings Plc will always notify the appropriate agencies and authorities whenever it receives any notice of significant shareholding by the shareholders and the company’s registrars,” the statement released by the firm on Friday had stated.

But today, the company issued another statement, informing the investing public that Mr Otedola now owns 5.07 per cent of the company’s equities. This is coming after it was reported that he acquired N30 billion worth of FBN Holdings stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

The financial institution said it received a notification today concerning this development.

“We refer to our communication to the market dated October 22, 2021, on the above subject wherein we stated that we would inform the public of any substantial acquisition, upon receipt of notification from the shareholder.

“This morning, October 23, 2021, FBN Holdings Plc received a notification from APT Securities and Funds Limited, that their client, Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter, and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited, have acquired a total of 1,818,551,625 units of shares from the company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791.

“Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee in the company is now 5.07 per cent,” the disclosure said.

Business Post reports that with this development, Mr Otedola will likely have one of two persons on the board of FBN Holdings to represent his interest. A change in the board of directors of FBN Holdings is likely to happen in the coming days, weeks or months.