How Otedola Acquired 5.52% Transcorp’s Shares
Before yesterday, UBA Chairman and Nigerian billionaire, Tony Elumelu, was the majority shareholder of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), a publicly traded diversified conglomerate.
But that is now history, as Dangote’s best friend and DJ Cuppy’s dad, Femi Otedola, has taken over the company from Tony through an overnight ‘coup’ that happened yesterday at the floors of the Nigerian stock exchange, It was simple: through his investment company, Femi bought shares worth 3.1 billion naira of Transcorp Nigeria at the Nigerian exchange.
Transcorp Nigeria’s shares at the Nigerian stock exchange are floating shares, which is why it was easy for Femi to buy over the majority stake of Transcorp without recourse to boardroom politics. The strategic investment vested in him a 5.52 percent stake in Transcorp.
With this latest purchase, Otedola has emerged as the largest shareholder in Transcorp, surpassing UBA Nominees (Tony Elumelu), which owns a 5 percent stake in the conglomerate.
This move positions Otedola to spearhead the conglomerate’s growth and create value for shareholders, who have seen a substantial decline in their investments over the past decade.
Transcorp Nigeria owns the Transcorp Hotels in Abuja and Lagos.
They also owned a Transcorp power plant in Afam and then an oil block OML in Rivers state.
With this overnight move by Femi Otedola, it is expected that the current management of Transcorp, led by Owen Omogiafo, who is loyal to Tony Elumelu, will resign any moment from now and then have their replacement, handpicked by Femi Otedola, who is the new majority owner of the conglomerate, take over the day to day running of the business.
The only reason this will not happen is if Tony and Femi arrive at a compromise to keep the current management.
As the chairman of Geregu Power, one of Africa’s fastest-growing power-generating companies, Otedola has demonstrated his ability to create value and drive growth.
In 2021, Otedola became the largest shareholder in Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Limited (FBNH), and his influence has significantly impacted.
