In a bid to resolve the unfolding drama over last Thursday’s acquisition of 4,770,269,843 shares of First Bank Holding Plc by a former chairman of the holding company, Oba Otudeko, some shareholders of the company have scheduled a board meeting for Sunday to discuss the matter.
Multiple sources told THISDAY on Saturday that the shareholders are weighing all the options that would facilitate a quick resolution of all the issues thrown up by the slew of share acquisitions and Otudeko’s comeback bid, which has fetched him a 13 per cent ownership of the company, and the right to sit on the board.
The current board was appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and according to one of the sources, the shareholders are bent on taking control of their bank with the source, adding that these are the issues the concerned shareholders will try to resolve at the meeting.
The shareholders are said to be concerned about the consequences of having Otudeko back in control of the bank in any capacity, following the debacle he had with the central bank two years ago.
The shares, which Otudeko bought at N19 per unit, are the largest volume of First Bank shares traded in a single day since 2012, when the stock exchange started publishing data. The acquisitions raised his shareholding to 14 per cent of the bank’s outstanding market value.
“The shareholders were appointed by the CBN and they are determined to take full control of their bank. These are the issues that must be resolved,” a source told THISDAY last night.
In April 2021, the central bank removed Oba Otudeko as chairman and sacked the board of the bank.
However, a “disclosure of shareholding” sent to the Company Secretary, FBN Holdings Plc and dated July 7, 2023, by the Head of Governance and Sustainability at Honeywell Group Limited, Yewande Giwa, stated: “We write on behalf of Barbican Capital Limited, an affiliate of Honeywell Group Limited and refer to the provisions of Sections 119 and 120 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (as amended).
“In addition to the previously disclosed interests by Honeywell Group Limited’s affiliates, kindly take this as notification that, as of 7th July 2023, Barbican Capital Limited has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 shares in FBN Holdings Plc.”
On the same day, FBN Holdings Plc acknowledged Honeywell Group Limited’s acquisitions.
In a letter signed by its Acting Company Secretary, Adewale Arogundade, the company stated: “This is to inform the public and our stakeholders that the Company received a notification dated July 7, 2023, from Honeywell Group Limited that its affiliate, Barbican Capital Limited has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 units of shares from the company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791, as at the above-referenced date. Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Barbican Capital Limited in the Company is 13.3 per cent.”
Otudeko, who was chairman of First Bank until 2019, is making a swift comeback to become the single largest shareholder of the bank.
A billionaire, Mr. Femi Otedola became the bank’s single largest shareholder in 2021 after a tussle with Hassan Odukale who was also vying for control of the bank after a leadership gap emerged from Otudeko’s exit.
With Otudeko now leading the battle for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc, Otedola has dropped to second with nine per cent shareholding.
Hassan Odukale and Mike Adenuga are joint third, each with seven per cent shareholding, while Saheed Arisekole is fourth with five per cent shareholding.
Honeywell Group’s Barbican Capital Limited was incorporated on the March 9, 2023 – RC 6900918. Persons with significant control of the firm are Otudeko’s children – Oyeleye Foluke of Oladipo Diya Street, Abacha Estate, 2nd Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos and Otudeko Obafemi Adedamola of Mekunwen Street, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The 4,770,269,843 shares bought were moved from 26 different accounts. They are Dogonyaro Investments Limited; Home Securities Limited; Skyview Estates Limited; Thames Investments & Sec Ltd; ESBI(WA) Limited; Fistful Securities Limited; Zanfara Packages; Row Park Limited; Edenvale Limited; Mansion House Limited; Bethlehem Properties Limited,;Musa Haruna Foods; Yazidu Zakari Ventures Limited; Thornbull Securities Limited; Moore House Limited; Impressario Limited; Mahmoud Alheri Limited; Timothy Banfield Limited; The WhitBread Limited and Penrose Securities Limited.
Flour Mills, Nigeria’s biggest miller by market value, snapped up Otudeko’s Honeywell Flour Mills Plc last year in a deal worth N82 billion.
Festus Akanbi
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