Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman, has sold his majority stake in Geregu Power Plc for N1.088 trillion in a deal financed by a consortium of banks led by Zenith Bank Plc.
On Monday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) confirmed the deal.
Amperion Power Distribution Company Ltd. of Otedola owned about 80% of the power-producing business.
According to sources, Otedola, who also serves as chairman of First Holdco Ltd., the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, would now focus on growing his stake in the Nigerian banking industry, even though he still owns some shares in Geregu.
Since the bank’s founding in 1894, Otedola has been its largest stakeholder, holding 17.01 percent of First Bank.
His first big break as a businessman was in the energy sector when he set up Zenon Oil, a diesel marketing company, in 2003. Zenon controlled about 93 percent of the diesel market.
The billionaire businessman later bought another marketing firm, African Petroleum (AP), in 2007 and renamed it Forte Oil before leaving in 2019 to concentrate on power generation with Geregu, which now produces 435MW, up from 80MW when he took over the dilapidated plant.
He is the author of the Amazon bestseller, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’.
In a corporate filing on the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX) following the most recent transaction, Geregu disclosed a modification to Amperion’s shareholding structure.
The statement claims that the board of directors of Geregu acknowledged receiving official correspondence on the share sale from Amperion.
Geregu announced new board members as a result of the deal, which also resulted in a change in the company’s leadership.
Abdul-Aziz Abubakar Yari, a senator and politician, will now replace Otedola as board chairman, while Abdulkadeer Babangida Njiddah, an account and finance professional, will join the board as non-executive director.
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