Billionaire businessman and chairman of First HoldCo Plc Femi Otedola has sold his interest in Geregu Power Plc, the electricity generation company he listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022 at a market value of N250 billion.
Sources familiar with the transaction told PREMIUM TIMES that the deal was valued at about $750 million.
Until the completion of the share sale, Mr Otedola was the majority shareholder in the Lagos listed firm.
At the point of listing, he held 95.5 percent of Geregu Power through Calvados Global Services and Amperion Power Distribution Company.
Over the past few years, part sales of the shares to strategic investors, including Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa and the State Grid Corporation of China, reduced his holding.
Geregu Power’s latest financial report showed that his stake had dropped to 76.4 percent as of September.
Stock exchange filings indicate that between September and now, Otedola further offloaded 14.5 million shares through Amperion.
The latest transaction represents about 1.9 billion units, or 75.8 percent of the company’s total issued shares.
Industry insiders said a consortium of lenders led by Zenith Bank facilitated the buyout, with BlackBirch Capital acting as financial adviser.
Geregu Power reported a net profit of N25.1 billion for the first nine months of the year, an increase of 3.8 percent, while revenue grew at a faster pace amid a sharp rise in cost of sales.
The company’s total assets stood at N273.1 billion, reflecting growth of about 60 percent within three years of its listing.
Sources said Otedola plans to channel more of his investments into the financial sector.
He is currently the largest shareholder in First HoldCo, where he owns 16.9 percent of the issued shares.
Geregu Power, located in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, was incorporated in November 2006 under the supervision of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria on behalf of the Federal Government.
The power plant was built by the government and inaugurated in February 2007.
It was one of five thermal generation companies created from the unbundling of PHCN during the privatisation of the power sector.
In November 2013, Amperion acquired a 51 percent controlling stake in Geregu Power for N20.5 billion.
