Otedola Has Not Notified Us About Controlling Shares Acquisition— First Bank

Less than 24 hours after Oil Mogul, Femi Otedola, reportedly bought FBN Holdings shares worth N30bn, First Bank of Nigeria Plc on Saturday said it had not been notified of the acquisition.

The bank said in a notice seen by THE WHISTLER that Otedola might have bought the controlling shares of the company using different vehicles, adding however, that it had not been officially notified of such transaction.

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First Bank said, “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.”

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Report on Friday had claimed Otedola allegedly bought a significant share in the bank to become the highest single shareholder.

THE WHISTER had reported that Otedola acquired the shares of the bank through a vehicle, Calvados Global Services Ltd.

It is also likely that there could be other vehicles associated with Otedola who may have also been mopping up shares.

FBN Holdings currently has 34.7 billion of its shares floating freely, meaning it is held by diverse shareholders. This makes the shares easy to acquire on the floor of the stock exchange.

The latest audited account of FBN Holdings does not have any shareholder with up to five per cent of the ownership of the banking behemoth.

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It is understood that Otedola, through his proxies and investing vehicles, now owns over five per cent of the bank, setting himself up to be the single largest shareholder of the bank.

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