First Bank Holdings Plc., the owners of First Bank of Nigeria, has backtracked on its earlier statement concerning business mogul, Femi Otedola, and now confirmed that he acquired over one billion units of shares of the company.
FBN Holdings made the announcement in a statement signed by the company secretary, Seyi Kosoko, and published on the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s portal on Saturday.
In a statement on Friday, the company said it was unaware that Otedola had purchased five per cent of the company’s shares.
But following a notification received, the bank has now confirmed that Otedola and his company, Calvados Global Services Limited, now have a substantial stake in the bank’s shares.
This, effectively, confirms the billionaire entrepreneur as the majority shareholder of the bank.
The statement read: “We refer to our communication to the market dated, October 22, 2021 on the above subject wherein we stated that we would inform the public of any substantial acquisition, upon receipt of notification from the shareholder.
“This morning, October 23, 2021, FBN Holdings Plc received a notification from APT Securities and Funds Limited, that their client, Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter, and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited have acquired a total of 1,818,551,625 units of shares from the company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791.
“Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee in the company is now 5.07 per cent.”