Nigerian Billionaire Tycoon Otedola Nets N1 Trillion from Geregu Power Share Sale

Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman, has cashed out a whooping N1.088 trillion in a deal financed by a consortium of banks led by Zenith Bank Plc in the sale of his majority stake in Geregu Power Plc.

The deal was announced by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Monday.

Otedola’s Amperion Power Distribution Company Ltd held nearly 80 percent of the power generating company.

According to report by TheCable, Otedola, who is also the chairman of First Holdco Ltd — parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Plc — will now concentrate on expanding his interest in the Nigerian banking sector, although he still retains some shares in Geregu.

Otedola currently owns 17.01 percent of First Bank — its single largest shareholder since it was established in 1894.

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.

Otedola later acquired African Petroleum (AP), another marketing company, in 2007 and rebranded it Forte Oil before exiting in 2019 to focus on power generation with Geregu, which currently generates 435MW — up from 80MW when he took over the run-down plant.

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The share price of First Bank was N5 when he started investing in the bank but closed at N53 on Friday.

He is the author of the Amazon bestseller, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’.