Femi Otedola, the multi-billionaire business mogul, has taken over total control of FirstHoldco Plc after increasing his current 15 percent holdings to about 40 percent
Oba Otudeko, the former Chairman of FirstHoldco, was forced to sell over 20 percent of his shares as the bank’s management, led by Otedola, pursued legal action against him for past misconduct, despite prior regulatory resolutions.
With these transactions, First Bank is expected to drop its complaint against Otudeko, who, at 82, can retire with over N300 billion in cash.
Another long-term shareholder, the Hassan-Odukales, sold 5 percent of their holdings as they sought better value.
Analysts see Otedola’s acquisitions as a first step toward stabilising the bank after years of disputes, but the major challenge remains raising N500 billion in new share capital before the Central Bank of Nigeria’s deadline, which is less than a year away.
They will need to raise another N154 billion and contend with non-performing loans of up to a trillion naira and CBN directives to end forbearance.
It was gathered that the off-market deal was executed at a fixed price of N31.00 per share on NGX as the lender’s stock price yesterday gained 9.9 per cent to close at N32.2 per share.
Reports say the transactions were negotiated deals, which meant the trades were arranged privately between parties and then reported to the Exchange, not through the regular buy/sell orders seen during daily trading sessions.
