As the battle for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc intensifies, Oba Otudeko’s Honeywell Group last Thursday bought 4,770,269,843 shares of the firm in a cross deal worth N87.8 billion.
This was revealed via a “disclosure of shareholding” sent to FBN Holdings Plc on Friday.
These shares, which Otudeko bought at N19 per unit, are the largest volume of First Bank shares traded in a single day since 2012, when the stock exchange started publishing data. The acquisitions takes his shareholding to 14 percent of the bank’s outstanding market value.
Otudeko, who was chairman of First Bank until 2019, in the cross deal worth N87.8 billion, now takes over from Nigerian billionaires Femi Otedola and Mike Adenuga, thereby making him the largest shareholder of Nigeria’s oldest financial institution.
FBN Holdings Plc has also acknowledged Honeywell Group Limited’s acquisitions in a letter signed by the acting Company Secretary, Adewale Arogundade.
Billionaire Femi Otedola became the bank’s single largest shareholder in 2021 after a tussle with Hassan Odukale, who was also vying for control of the bank after a leadership gap emerged from Otudeko’s exit.
With Otudeko now leading the battle for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc with 14 percent shareholding, Otedola drops to second with nine percent shareholding. Hassan Odukale and Mike Adenuga are joint third, each with seven percent shareholding. Saheed Arisekole is fourth with five percent shareholding.
