Femi Otedola Sells His Transcorp Stake to Tony Elumelu

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has sold off his entire shares in Transcorp Plc to Tony Elumelu, the company’s chairman and largest shareholder. This development comes two weeks after news first emerged about his acquisition of a large minority stake.

The strategic sale puts an end to the interesting corporate drama that ravaged Nigeria’s capital markets over the past several days. According to reports, the transaction was a negotiated deal between Otedola and Elumelu, which was brokered by prominent, mutual friends of the two tycoons.

An undisclosed source told newsmen that Elumelu paid Otedola a 400-per cent premium on Transcorp’s closing price on Thursday to acquire his bloc of shares. This implies that Otedola, who owned 2.6 billion shares or 6.3 per cent of the company, was paid about NGN 12.5 ($0.027) per share, and walked away with a N32.5 billion ($70 million) payout.

Otedola and Transcorp: All you need to know

Chairman of Geregu Power, Otedola,  had earlier acquired a 5.52-per cent stake in Transcorp. The acquisition which was consummated between an entity owned by Otedola and AMCON, made him the second-largest shareholder of the company. Newsmen gathered that Otedola further acquired additional shares, increasing his interest in the conglomerate to 6.3 per cent.

His acquisition which came at a time when Transcorp’s stock was at N1 ($0.003)  per share was described by many as Otedola’s attempt to take control of one of Nigeria’s indigenous and most recognized conglomerates.

Elumelu’s battle for Transcorp

In reaction to Otedola’s previous acquisition, Elumelu acquired an additional 9.7 billion shares in separate deals to ramp up his combined stake in the group to 10.5 billion shares or 25.9 per cent. This purchase cemented his position as Transcorp’s main shareholder. In addition to his purchase, sources revealed that Elumelu called mutual friends to help broker a deal with Otedola, who was reportedly not taking his calls.