…Otedola, FG distance selves from transaction
RC Investment Management is the special purpose vehicle used in the trustee arrangement set up by First Holdco with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This is as the Federal Government has denied any involvement in the recent acquisition of 25 percent of First Holdco Plc shares by RC Investment Management Limited. Billionaire investor Femi Otedola has also distanced himself from the transaction.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) dismissed reports suggesting that First Holdco’s shares were acquired on behalf of the Federal Government. First Holdco also stated on Friday, denying that its chairman was involved in the transaction.
A statement signed by Kamarudeen Ogundele, Special Assistant to the President on Communication and Publicity, Office of the AGF, read,
“Neither the Federal Government of Nigeria nor the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice participated in acquiring the shares in question.”
Then it clarified that the Office of the AGF “is aware of a trustee set up by the First Holdco, with the CBN approving Stanbic IBTC to oversee it as a third party.”
First Holdco: Otedola not the buyer
In a parallel statement, First Holdco clarified that its chairman, Femi Otedola, was not involved in the transaction, distancing him from reports that implied he was behind the purchase.
“The Chairman of First HoldCo, Mr. Femi Otedola, did not purchase any of the shares in question, nor did the Federal Government of Nigeria, nor any of its agencies acquire the shares in trust,” the company said.
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It further disclosed that the sellers of the shares were “Barbican Capital Limited & affiliates and Leadway Group & affiliates,” and that the buyer was RC Investment Management Limited.
According to findings by BusinessDay, RC Investment Management is associated with Samuel Sule, the current CEO of Renaissance Capital Africa. In an earlier story written by BusinessDay, it was clarified that the CBN brokered the N323 billion deal as a strategy to resolve the long-standing leadership crisis that has hindered First Holdco’s capital raising efforts.
For now, the intentions of RC Investment Management Limited remain relatively unknown. However, it is seemingly not out of place, as it is essentially the primary duty of a nominee or trustee to hold large tranches of a company’s shares in custody for other investors. For example, Stanbic IBTC Nominees holds a 24.2 percent stake in GTCO Holdings for other institutional investors.
