Femi Otedola
By Victory Oghene
Shrewd businessman and Chairman of FBN Holdings, Femi Otedola, is at it again. This time he acquired 534,094,407 ordinary shares at N30.00 each, amounting to a total value of N16.02bn in First Bank.
The new addition was made known In a notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited about directors dealing on Thursday, this transaction took place between September 23 and September 25 and has been officially documented as an initial notification in compliance with director dealing regulations on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
With his latest acquisition, he has strengthened his position as one of the largest shareholders of the banking group, one of the oldest in Nigeria and a strategically important bank.
The astute businessman emerged as the chairman of the board in January and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company in July 2023. His appointment was approved by the CBN and, subsequently, the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on August 15, 2023.
With his emergence, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings’ profit at the end of 2023 rose to N309.89bn, which is 127 per cent higher than N136.17bn at the end of the corresponding period in 2022.
Recall that Otedola, in Julyacquired 4.63 per cent of the banking group’s shares in two trading sessions to emerge as the majority shareholder of the group.
