Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has reclaimed his status as the majority shareholder of First Bank, according to corporate filings on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Thursday.
Otedola now holds a 9.41% stake in the bank.
This achievement follows Otedola’s strategic purchase of shares valued at N18.9 billion. Initially, he acquired 316,506,776 shares at N21.91 per share, amounting to N6.935 billion.
Subsequently, through his holding company, Calvados Global Services Limited, he bought an additional 546,674,034 shares at N21.97 per share, totalling N12.01 billion. In total, Otedola recently acquired 863,180,810 shares.
With these acquisitions, Otedola’s total shares in FBN Holdings have surged to 3,380,462,950 from the previous 2,517,282,140 shares.
This increase in his holdings places him ahead of Barbican Capital Limited, owned by Oba Otudeko, which holds 3,110,400,619 direct shares.
Otedola’s position as the chairman of FBN Holdings’ board of directors, appointed in January, marks a significant milestone in his investment journey. His initial major stake in the company was established in December 2021 when he became the firm’s single largest shareholder with a 7.57% stake.
Although Barbican Capital Limited was later named the majority shareholder, Otedola has now surpassed this with his latest share acquisition.