Femi Otedola May Take Over First Bank Nigeria

If indications are anything to go by, Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, may soon take over First Bank Nigeria Holding(FBNH), one of Nigeria’s tier-one banks, with his recent acquisition of about N30 billion worth of shares, making him the single largest shareholder of the bank.

According to several sources privy to the purchase, majority ownership of FBN Holding Company, owners of Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank, is about to be upturned following months of slow and strategic purchase of the company shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange by Otedola. Otedola is now the majority shareholder of the bank with an announcement imminent in the coming days.

The billionaire investor and turnaround specialist best known for taking over African Petroleum earlier this century and transforming it into a dominant player in the downstream space of the oil and gas sector, has been scooping up shares of the bank for months, gradually increasing his ownership and surpassing shares owned by any other single shareholders of the bank.

It was learnt that Otedola has been acquiring the shares of the bank through Calvados Global Services Ltd. It is also likely that there are other vehicles associated with Otedola who may have also been mopping up shares. FBNH currently has 34.7 billion of its shares floating freely meaning it is held by diverse shareholders. This makes the shares easy to acquire on the stock exchange.

The latest audited account of FBN Holdings does not have any shareholder with up to 5% of the ownership of the banking giant.

Otedola may have taken advantage of the leadership crisis that rocked First Bank not too long ago when the Central Bank of Nigeria sacked both the chairman of the bank, Ibukun Awosika and Obafemi Otudeko, the chairman of FBN Holdings.