First HoldCo Plc has clarified that Femi Otedola, its chairman, and the federal government were not involved in the recent N323 billion block share acquisition deal.
First HoldCo, in a statement issued on Friday by Adewale Arogundade, the company secretary, said RC Investment Management Limited was the buyer of the shares.
On Thursday, it was reported that Oba Otudeko, chairman of Honeywell Group, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale, group managing director of Leadway Assurance, sold a combined total of over 10 billion shares in First HoldCo’s block deal.
Some media platforms later linked the acquisition to Otedola and the federal government as the buyers.
However, addressing the matter in the statement, the holding company denied the claims.
“We wish to state that the Chairman of First HoldCo, Mr. Femi Otedola, did not purchase any of the shares in question, neither did the Federal Government of Nigeria or any of its agencies acquire the shares in trust,” the statement reads.
The company said the sellers were Barbican Capital Limited and affiliates, and Leadway Group and affiliates. First HoldCo stated that RC Investment Management Limited was the sole buyer of the shares.
The NewsMatrics reports that RC Investment Management is led by Samuel Babatunde Sule, a former top executive at Renaissance Capital is acting as a trustee for the shares based of a special arrangement by First HoldCo sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria
Mr Sule is the chief executive office of Rennaisance Capital (RenCap). He joined Renaissance Capital in 2018. Prior to joining Renaissance, he had been involved in the origination, structuring and distribution of products for domestic and international issuers across West Africa, according to Business Insider.
RC Investment bought nearly 7.787 billion shares from Barbican Capital and RAML, owned by Mr Otudeko, on Wednesday.
The firm also bought 2.647 billion shares from firms linked to Mr Hassan-Odukale such as Leadway Holdings, Leadway Pensure PFA, Haskal Holdings, and Leadway/NNPC Staff Pension Investment, BusinessDay reported.
Apart from Renaissance Capital, Sule is also connected to RC Africa Limited, Avuso Payment, Odde Properties, and Green Arrow Services Limited, according to Endole.
In a separate statement, the office of the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice described reports of shares being transferred to a government trust vehicle as “inaccurate, misleading and malicious”.
The statement, signed by Kamarudeen Ogundele, special assistant to the president on communication and publicity (Office of the AGF), stressed that neither the attorney general nor the Tinubu administration had any hand in the acquisition.
“We are compelled to respond to a publication… suggesting that 25% of First Bank Holdings shares were transferred to the Federal Government’s trustee,” the statement reads.
“The report is inaccurate, misleading, resentful and malicious.
“The circumstances surrounding the shareholding structure are distinct from any government involvement.
The circumstances surrounding the shareholding structure are distinct from any government involvement.
“However, it is aware of a trustee set up by the First Holdco, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approving Renaissance Capital to oversee it as a third party.
“We urge the media to exercise restraint, professionalism, and due diligence in carrying out their duties to avoid violating the law.”
The AGF assured the public of his commitment to the promotion of the rule of law, justice, equity, accountability, transparency, and service to the nation.
First HoldCo, on Friday, officially released the statement of transaction to investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
