AMCON inherits Otedola’s N192b debt while he acquires N30b 5% majority shares in FirstBank

In a proverbial twist of fate, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) inherited billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola’s debt of N192 billion after it took over management of his then Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. on the one hand.

On the other hand, Otedola raised N30 billion to acquire 5% majority shares in First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

Otedola took over FirstBank with his recent acquisition of about N30 billion worth of shares, making him the major shareholder of the bank.

An economic analyst, who spoke to News.band on condition of anonymity, wondered why AMCON cannot account for the over N8 trillion debt portolio it inherited.

“How are we sure that the cycle of running businesses down and handing over to AMCON is over?” he asked, considering having a humongous loan portfolio of N192 billion in 2012 via Zenon oil company which was eventually passed on to AMCON.

FBN Holdings Plc, is the non-operating holding company that owns First Bank of Nigeria, one of Nigeria’s biggest bank In March this year, the Central bank of Nigeria dissolved the FBHN Board, and report has it Oba Otudeko, has since placed his shares up for sale.

FBN Holdings (FBNH) Plc, the parent company of First Bank, on Saturday confirmed that Femi Otedola has acquired a 5.07 percent equity stake in the company.

The confirmation comes less than 24 hours after the company denied notification of possible acquisition of shares by the billionaire businessman.

FBN Holdings had, earlier on Friday, denied knowledge of Otedola acquiring buying the shares of the company.

The company followed the statement with a warning to the public to disregard any information of a take over.

However, FBNH Company Secretary, Seye Kosoko, in another statement on Saturday posted on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd. website affirmed that Otedola and his nominee now own 5.07 per cent equity stake in the company.

The statement reads: “We refer to our market disclosure on the aforementioned issue dated October 22, in which we stated that we will notify the public of any significant purchase upon receipt of information from the Shareholder.

“FBN Holdings Plc received notice from APT Securities and Funds Ltd this morning, October 23, 2021, that their client, Mr Otedola Olufemi Peter, and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Ltd, had purchased a total of 1,818,551,625 units of shares from the company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791.”

Otedola, thereby, reportedly takes over First Bank’s total investment acquired from First Bank Nigeria Holdings’ Group Managing Director, Urum Eke, who made over over N15.35 million in eight hours.

Eke is now worth N1.25 billion today, but during this period last year, the GMD was valued at N520.13 million.

The report shows that Otedola potential take over helped First Bank stock value skyrocketing since the beginning of October 2021.