ICYMI: Otudeko-led Honeywell acquires 4.7bn shares of FBN Holdings, becomes largest shareholder

Honeywell Group Limited (HGL) has acquired 4.7 billion shares of FBN Holdings Plc (FBNH), the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria.

Honeywell Group is chaired by Oba Otudeko, a businessman and former chairman of FBN Holdings.

According to a notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited over the weekend, Honeywell Group, through its affiliate, Barbican Capital Limited, acquired an aggregate of 4,770,269,843 units of FBN Holdings’ shares.

The purchase brings the equity stake of Barbican Capital Limited in FBN Holdings to 13.3 percent.

“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,” the notice signed by Adewale Arogundade, acting company secretary, FBN Holdings, reads.

‘Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Barbican Capital Limited in the Company is 13.3%.”

The development makes Otudeko-led Honeywell Group the single largest shareholder of FBN Holdings, displacing Femi Otedola, the billionaire businessman.

In December 2021, Otedola became the single largest shareholder after acquiring 7.57 percent of the issued shares capital of FBNH.

With the move, TheCable had reported that Otedola will nominate more directors, having nominated two before — one into FBN and the other into the HoldCo.