The chairman and majority shareholder of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings, Femi Otedola has raised his stake in the company to 13.15 per cent.
This strategic move underscores Otedola’s confidence in FBN Holdings’ potential for growth and development within the banking sector.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Acting Secretary, FBNH, Adewale Arogundare filed with the Nigerian Exchange, NGX on Thursday.
Otedola increased his stake after purchasing 534,094,407 shares at N30.00 per share between September 23 and 25.
The acquisition increased Otedola’s stake in FBN Holdings from 11.67 percent (4,187,602,704 shares) to 13.15 percent (4,721,697,111 shares), valued at N136.9 billion as of Wednesday.
This move also widens the gap between Otedola and Barbican Capital Limited, FBN Holdings’ second-largest investor, which holds an 8.67 percent stake (3,110,400,619 shares) valued at N90.2 billion as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, there has been ongoing contention regarding the exact number of shares held by Barbican Capital in FBN Holdings.
In a lawsuit (no. FHC/L/CS/1172/24) against FBN Holdings, Barbican Capital, owned by Oba Otudeko, claims to have acquired approximately 5,386,397,202 shares, representing 15.1 percent of FBN Holdings, over various periods.
Barbican Capital stated that its share purchases and dates of issuance were properly recorded by Meristem Registrar and Probate Service Ltd, the appointed registrars for FBN Holdings.
This information was also acknowledged in the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), which detailed the value of its shares with the bank.
In response, FBN Holdings stated that Barbican Capital only notified the financial institution on July 7, 2023, about the acquisition of approximately 4,770,269,843 shares.
FBN Holdings informed the court that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was only able to verify 3,110,400,619 shares out of the 4,770,269,843 shares that Barbican Capital claimed to have acquired.
