Otedola’s Geregu To Pay $4m To BPE For New Power Plant Acquisition

Geregu Power Plant owned by Femi Otedola obtained a $4m bid bond in favour of the Bureau of Public Enterprises for the acquisition of Geregu II, the company’s books reveal.

A bid bond provides a guarantee to the project owner that the bidder will complete the work if selected.

The bid bond gives the owner assurance that the bidder has the financial capacity to execute the price quoted in the bid.

The company said the process of the acquisition of one of the government-owned power plants is in its final bidding stage.

The development was revealed in Geregu’s unaudited financial statement for the full year of 2023, analysed by THE WHISTLER.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) put up five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) for sale.

The five NIPP plants are Geregu II, Omotosho, Olorunsogo, Calabar and Benin-Ihovbor.

Otedola through his vehicle, Emperion Power Distribution Company Ltd was among the 16 pre-qualified bidders listed by the BPE in 2022.

Emperion Power controls 1,965,979,283 shares in Geregu which is 78.64 per cent of the issued share capital of the company.

Geregu disclosed in its books that it obtained “$4,000,000.00 Bid Bond for the acquisition of Geregu II in favour of Bureau of Public Enterprises with validity period of May 23. 2024.“

The books revealed that in 2022, Geregu issued N40bn unsecured corporate bonds at 14.5 per cent and 14.7 per cent coupon and interest rates respectively to fund the acquisition of Geregu II.

“In July 2022, the company issued N40.085bn unsecured corporate bond for a 7-year tenor and at a coupon and effective interest rate of 14.5 and 14.7 per cent respectively.

“The net proceeds would be used to finance the acquisition of one of the power generation companies which is currently in the final stage of negotiation with the Bureau of Public Enterprises,” Geregu’s financial records said.