First Bank Backtracks, Confirms Femi Otedola As Major Shareholder

First Bank has finally confirmed Femi Otedola as major shareholder after denial.

Newsone recalls that news emerged on Friday, October 22, 2021, suggesting that billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola had become the major shareholder of First Bank of Nigeria.

However, the holding company of First Bank of Nigeria, FBN Holdings Plc, denied the development in a statement, stating that it was yet to receive any notification of acquisition of the brand from the former Forte Oil Chief Executive Officer, Femi Otedola.

The bank, in a statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited by Seyi Kosoko, the Company Secretary, responded to the reports that Otedola had allegedly acquired 5 per cent of the company’s shares noting that such was not tenable in the field the company operates.

Newsone reports that the statement read in part, “The attention of FBN Holdings Plc (the Company) has been drawn to media reports today, 22 October 2020 purporting that a certain individual has acquired significant shareholding interest in FBN Holdings Plc {the Company) therefore making him the majority shareholder in the Company,”

“As a listed Company, the shares of FBN Holdings Plc are publicly traded, and sale and acquisition of shares is expected in the normal course of business. We operate in a regulated environment, which requires notification of significant shareholding by Shareholders to the Company, where shares are held in different vehicles, further to which the Company will notify the regulators and the public as appropriate.

“The Company is yet to receive any notification from the individual mentioned in the media report, of such acquisitions.

“FBN Holdings Plc will always notify the appropriate agencies and authorities whenever it receives any notice of significant shareholding by the Shareholders and the Company’s Registrars,” the statement added.

Barely 24-hours after denial, Newsone notes, that the company confirmed Saturday, October 23, 2021, that Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola, has emerged a major shareholder of First Bank Holdings, owners of First Bank Nigeria, after acquiring a 5.07 per cent equity stake.

First Bank, in a follow-up communication to the Nigerian Exchange Limited Saturday, said it received notification from APT Securities and Funds Limited that its client, “that Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited have acquired a total of 1,818, 551,625 units of shares from the Company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292791.”

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“Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee in the company is now 5.07%,” the notice signed by Seye Kosoko, company secretary, said.

Meanwhile, Newsone Nigeria reports that FBN Holdings in the 10 days to Friday, witnessed an unusually massive trading in its shares and the cumulative number of units traded within the period surpassed 2.1 billion. The uptick in trading catapulted its share value by 62.3 per cent from the level it was three weeks ago.