Shareholders weigh options as Otudeko displaces Otedola as FBNH majority investor

Majority shareholders of FBN Holding are weighing options to prevent Oba Otudeko from taking over the financial institution after Barbican Capital owned by Otudeko acquired 4,770,269,843 shares of the firm in a cross deal worth N87.8 billion last week, representing 13.3 per cent majority stake in the bank.

These shares which Otudeko bought at N19 per unit are the largest volume of First Bank shares traded in a single day since 2012, when the stock exchange started publishing data.

The acquisitions take his shareholding to 14 percent of the bank’s outstanding market value.

Femi Otedola, the hitherto single largest shareholder has now dropped to second with nine percent shareholding. Hassan Odukale and Mike Adenuga are joint third, each with seven percent shareholding and Saheed Arisekola is fourth with five percent shareholding.

However, investigation revealed that majority shareholders of the firm, FBN Holdings GMD/CEO Nnamdi Okonkwo, Sola Adeduntan, Mike Adenuga and family of Arisekola who have a combine stake of over 27 per cent, are considering regulatory rule to stop Otudeko’s takeover.

Recall, in April 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed Oba Otudeko as chairman and sacked the board of the bank.

The CBN claimed that because it had played a major intervention role that avoided a collapse of the bank due to bad loans and poor capital adequacy ratios, it had a major stake in how the bank is run.

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The ouster of Otudeko and other directors led to the restructuring of First Bank, the banking subsidiary, led by the current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sola Adeduntan.

The new board, backed by some majority shareholders; Femi Otedola, Oye Hassan Odukale, Mike Adenuga, and the family of Late Azeez Arisekola Alao worked tirelessly to restructure and reposition the FBN Group in the last two years.

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Under Otudeko, the capital market’s confidence in FBN Holdings slumped significantly, with the firm’s share depreciating by 61.06 per cent between 2013, a year after he was appointed FBN Holdings board chairman, to 2021, when he exited.

This wiped off N405.97 billion in the market valuation of the company, leading to significant loss in shareholders’ investments, as FBN Holdings market capitalisation fell to N258.80 billion, from N664.78 billion.

The shareholders are reported to be concerned about the consequences of having Oba Otedeko back in control of the bank in any capacity, following the debacle he had with the central bank two years ago.

The shareholders also believe they have enough votes in the bag to stall any possible return of Otudeko despite his declaration of a 13.3 per cent stake in the bank.

They are also thought to be exploring other possible regulatory breaches around the failed declaration of the holdings by Otudeko as required by NGX and SEC regulations.