By Opeyemi Abdulsalam
Femi Otedola, a prominent billionaire businessman, has made a significant move by acquiring additional shares in FBN Holdings.
This development was made public through a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Monday.
The acquisition adds 2.22 percent to Otedola’s existing stake in the company, solidifying his position as a major shareholder.
With this latest acquisition, Otedola’s total shareholding in FBN Holdings now stands at 11.63 percent, the highest among all shareholders.
This significant stake cements his influence and control in the company’s decision-making processes.
Overall, this development highlights Otedola’s status as a shrewd businessman and a key player in the Nigerian financial sector.
His significant stake in FBN Holdings is a clear indication of his dedication to the company’s success and his contribution to the growth of the Nigerian economy.
According to the NGX filing, Otedola spent N17.2 billion to 797,946,415 shares at 21.58k.
The latest acquisition comes just four days after the serial investor increased his stakes in the holding company to 9.41 percent after splashing a whooping N18.9 billion to buy a total of 863,180,810 shares.
With that and in addition to the latest purchase, Otedola’s shares (direct and indirect) in FBN Holdings has now leapt to 4,178,409,365 — from 2,517,282,140 shares.
This means the businessman is now the biggest shareholder in the company, displacing Barbican Capital Limited, owned by Oba Otudeko, which has 3,110,400,619 direct shares.
In January, FBN Holdings appointed Otedola as the chairman of its board of directors.
The appointment had come two years after the investor became the firm’s single largest shareholder in December 2021, when he increased his stake to 7.57 percent.
A month after the appointment, FBN Holdings named Barbican Capital Limited as its majority shareholder — making Otedola the second major shareholder at the time.
It was learnt that Otedola spent over N100 billion on FBN Holdings shares in three years.