Otedola fights to consolidate stakes in First Bank with additional N2 billion shares acquisition

Amid the fight for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc, billionaire businessman and Geregu Power Plant Chairman, Femi Otedola, has acquired an additional 110 million units of First Bank shares.

The move is said to pitch him against the current majority shareholder of the bank, Oba Otudeko, who retook the bank's top shareholding in July in a stormy deal that rattled the industry.

Otedola's new share acquisition makes him a top contender for FBH ownership

The development comes as Otedola sold about 834 million shares of the bank valued at about N9.28 billion, a deal that made him the bank's largest shareholder as of June 2023.

The deal follows a prolonged boardroom battle over the ownership of Nigeria's oldest bank, compelling the Nigerian Exchange to intervene and clarify the ownership tussle.

According to reports, the bank's audited accounts during the period placed Otedola's shareholding at 7.57%.

Oba Otudeko's 13.3% shareholding places atop the company's board

Legit.ng had reported in July that Honeywell Group Chairman, Oba Otudeko, consolidated his stakes as the largest shareholder with the acquisition of 4,770,269,843 units of shares via a Special Purpose Vehicle, Barbican Capital affiliated with the Honeywell Group.

Otudeko's new acquisition represents 13.3% of its 35,895,292,791 outstanding shares of FBN Holdings.

However, there has been controversy over the bank's Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for August 15, 2023, with the bank saying that it still needs to receive a court order stopping it from holding an AGM scheduled for August 15, 2023.

Bank staff protests court order against

AGM In an official statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange, the bank stated that the reports on a section of the media receiving a court not to hold its AGM was untrue.

Part of the statement read: "The attention of FBN Holdings Plc (the Company) has been drawn to recent media reports purporting that the Company has received a Court Order stopping it from holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for August 15, 2023.

"We confirm that this assertion is a false narrative as the Company has not been served with any court order to stop the forthcoming AGM as of the date hereof.

Media reports said that some majority stakeholders of the Company protested against the purported court order at its Lagos Headquarters on August 7, 2023.