Billionaire investor and chairman of Geregu Power Plant, Femi Otedola is officially the majority shareholder of FBN Holdings, one of Nigeria’s most respected banks and largest by branches.
The much-anticipated audited accounts of the bank for the year ended December 2021 confirmed he owns 2,717,282,140 shares or 7.57% of the bank making him the single largest shareholder with more than 5% ownership of the bank.
The bank’s 2022 first-quarter result which was released during the week also confirmed ownership of 2,717,282,140 shares or 7.57% of the bank’s total shares of 35,895,292,791. The disclosure in the audited accounts clarifies a protracted shareholder squabble that put into question, who the majority owner of one of the most systemic important financial institutions in Nigeria is.
Why this matters
The majority ownership of FBN Holdings had been a matter of contention since the billionaire investor announced he had taken a majority stake in the bank.
- This triggered the intervention of Pencom, the Pension Fund regulator, and the Nigerian Exchange, the operators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
- The audited account of any company is viewed as the official source of information about the company making it the single source of truth for company corporate disclosures pertaining to results, shareholder information, and general company information.
- At 7.57%, Mr. Otedola becomes the single largest shareholder of the bank.
- The next largest shareholder of the bank as disclosed in the financial statement is Mr. Tunde Hassan Odukale with 4.31% direct and indirect ownership combined.
Shareholder Changes
- From the disclosures seen by Nairametrics, Mr. Hassan Odukale acquired 1,546,289,714 units between March 2021 and March 2022 as the jostle for majority ownership ratcheted up.
- Leadway Pension also added another 133,868,296 shares taking its ownership of the company to 1.01% from 0.64%.
- However, Mr. Otedola’s acquisition of about 2.7 billion shares remains the largest single indirect and direct shares owned by a shareholder of the bank.
- FBN Holdings has about 31,250,501,802 or 87.06% of its shares floating down from 94.95% of shares floating.
Backstory
Nairametrics first reported Mr. Otedola acquired over 5% of the bank after acquiring shares of the bank over a protracted period.
- In the letter dated October 23rd, 2021, and seen by Nairametrics, the bank confirmed Mr. Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited had acquired a total of 1,818,551,625 units of shares from the Company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791.
- A few days after, Mr. Femi Otedola announced an increase in his shareholdings of FBN Holdings, (First Bank’s parent company) to 7.57%.
- This was disclosed in a letter to the bank by Mr. Otedola dated December 9, 2021. The disclosure officially made him the single largest majority shareholder of the bank at least according to the public disclosure of ownership that has now been made.
- With the audited accounts now published, it is officially clear that Mr. Femi Otedola is the single largest shareholder of FBN Holdings as of March 31st, 2022.
Snapshot of Shareholdings
Nairametrics abegi quit falling our hand…
While Otedola has the largest shareholding in FBNH, he is NOT the “majority” shareholder. To be the “majority” shareholder, he would have to hold a majority of the shares of FBNH – in other words, more than 50% of the shares.