Oba Otudeko, the chairman of the Nigerian conglomerate Honeywell Group has purchased the First Bank of Nigeria Holdings (FBNH) with the largest shares of 4.7 billion. 

Mr Otudeko, in the cross deal worth N87.8 billion, now takes over from Nigerian billionaires Femi Otedola and Mike Adenuga, thereby making him the largest shareholder of Nigeria’s oldest financial institution.

The shares – 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 per cent of the bank’s outstanding market value. 

“We write on behalf of Barbican Capital Limited, an affiliate of Honeywell Group Limited and refer to the provisions of Sections 119 and 120 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (as amended).

“In addition to the previously disclosed interests by Honeywell Group Limited’s affiliates, kindly take this as notification that, as of 7th July 2023, Barbican Capital Limited has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 shares in FBN Holdings Plc. Kindly accept the assurances of our highest regards. Yours faithfully, Yewande Giwa Head, Governance & Sustainability,” Honeywell Group said in a “disclosure of shareholding” sent to FBN Holdings Plc on Friday. 

FBN Holdings Plc has also acknowledged Honeywell Group Limited’s acquisitions in a letter signed by the acting company secretary, Adewale Arogundade. 

“This is to inform the public and our stakeholders that the Company received a notification dated July 7, 2023, from Honeywell Group Limited that its affiliate, Barbican Capital Limited, has acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 units of shares from the Company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791, as at the above-referenced date. Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Barbican Capital Limited in the Company is 13.3%,” it said.

Until 2019, Mr Otudeko was the chairman of First Bank after making a swift comeback to become the bank’s single largest shareholder.

In 2021, Mr Otedola became the bank’s single largest shareholder after a tussle with Hassan Odukale, who was also vying for control of the bank after a leadership gap emerged from Mr Otudeko’s exit.

As Mr Otudeko now leads the battle for the control of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc with 14 per cent shareholding, Mr Otedola drops to second with nine per cent.

Messrs Odukale and Adenuga are joint third, each with seven per cent shareholding. Saheed Arisekola is fourth with a five per cent shareholding.

Mr Otudeko, in May 2022, sold Honeywell’s shares worth N22 billion to repay agelong debt to FBNH. 

But after months of negotiations and proper preparation of documentation, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, a Nigerian agro-allied group led by Greek investor John Coumantaros, announced that it acquired a 71.69 per cent stake in Honeywell Flour Mills, as well as a 5.06 per cent stake in the firm for N4.2 ($0.01011) per share.