From Uche Usim, Abuja
Hours after it claimed not to have received any notification from any individual on the reported new share ownership acquisitions, FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of First Bank, backtracked and finally confirmed that businessman Femi Otedola has acquired a 5.07 per cent stake in the company.
With the confirmation, the billionaire businessman has become the lender’s single largest shareholder following the crisis that buffeted the Board of Directors recently.
Seyi Kosoko, FBN Holdings Company Secretary, issued the confirmation notice, saying FBNH had 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%.’
FBN Holdings had insisted it operates in a regulated environment that required notifications of significant shareholding by shareholders to the company, where shares are held in different vehicles.