Contrary to earlier reports suggesting that Femi Otedola, had increased his shares stake in First Holdco Plc to 40 per cent, from his current 15 per c
Contrary to earlier reports suggesting that Femi Otedola, had increased his shares stake in First Holdco Plc to 40 per cent, from his current 15 per cent, emerging details have revealed that the shares were actually acquired by a trustee, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), acting under the aegis of the federal government.
The acquisition was facilitated through a custodial arrangement, established as part of a settlement brokered by the Office of the attorney general of the federation in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The shares are now with the trustee for the next two or three weeks when they will decide how to proceed and reach a strategic decision on what to do with the shares and also look at FBN’s plan for capital raise to meet CBN requirement.”
It will be recalled that significant shareholder disputes at FBN led to criminal charges being filed against Oba Otudeko by the Otedola led FBN management, these internal conflicts raised concerns at the CBN that FBN might not be able to meet new capital requirements if the infighting persisted.
Consequently, the apex bank, in collaboration with the attorney general, pursued a non litigious solution, which culminated in Oba Otudeko’s exit and the subsequent withdrawal of the criminal complaint and prosecution by First Bank.
This resolution manifested in substantial market activity on Wednesday, July 16 as N324.47 billion worth of First Holdco Plc shares, totaling 10.47 billion units, were traded in off-market block transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
As a direct result, Oba Otudeko, the former Chairman of FirstHoldco, was compelled to divest over 20 percent of the shares linked to him.
Concurrently, the Hassan Odukale family, another long term shareholder, voluntarily exited the bank by selling five percent of their holdings in a major transaction, in pursuit of better shareholder value elsewhere.
It was gathered that these off market deals were executed at a fixed price of N31.00 per share on the NGX, even as the lender’s stock price gained 9.9 percent, closing at N32.2 per share.
These transactions were negotiated deals, meaning they were privately arranged between parties and subsequently reported to the Exchange, rather than being processed through the regular buy/sell orders of daily trading sessions.
17 separate deals occurred, with First Securities Ltd serving as the buyer in transactions involving CardinalStone Securities Ltd, Meristem Stockbrokers Ltd, Renaissance Capital (Rencap) Securities Ltd, Regency Asset Management Ltd, United Capital Securities Ltd, and Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Ltd as sellers of First Holdco’s stock.
Furthermore, it was learned that First Securities Ltd also acted as a seller in some deals, suggesting either a portfolio reshuffling or an inter-account transfer.
