Nigeria’s billionaire magnate and chair of Geregu Power Plc Femi Otedola has acquired a further interest in FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest lender First Bank, an affirmation that the heated battle for the soul of the financial services group among its principal shareholders is not yet over.
Mr Otedola acquired at least 2.5 per cent additional interest in the company, bringing his total stake to 7.57 per cent. Mr Otedola previously made piecemeal acquisitions summing up to 5.07 per cent.
The purchase will formally consolidate his position as the single biggest shareholder of FBN Holdings, placing him well ahead of his closest rival Tunde Hassan-Odukale, FirstBank’s chairman, whom he has come in contention with since the news of his share acquisitions broke into the open late October.
Mr Otedola’s earlier move spurred Mr Hassan-Odukale to swiftly lay claim to 5.36 per cent shareholding in the holdco in what he called “cumulative equity stake” drawn from a combination of his direct, indirect and related party shareholding in the group.
Days after, the board of FBN Holdings issued a letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES to the Corporate Affairs Commission, notifying Hassan-Odukale’s “5.36 per cent” cumulative stake and other related details.
But the controversial aspect of his declaration, particularly his claim to 1.05 per cent stake held by Leadway Pensure PFA, a company owned by Mr Hassan-Odukale, attracted disapproval from the NGX and the National Pension Commission.
The wrangle around the claim lies in how an equity investment from a pool of employees’ pension contributions could qualify as a single individual’s investment.
While the NGX queried FBN Holdings in October, asking it to explain what it meant by “cumulative equity stake” and Mr Hassan-Odukale’s claim to investment by Leadway Pensure PFA, the pension office late affirmed that shares of FBN Holdings Plc belong to Retirement Savings Account holders, and not a third party as FBN Holdings had claimed.
That technically puts Hassan-Odukale’s interest in the entity at 4.31 per cent after deducting the controversial stake.
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