Otedola completes divestment from Forte Oil to focus on power

19 Jun 2019
Financial Nigeria

Summary

Otedola, who was Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, said he has divested his 75 per cent shareholding in the oil company to maximize investment opportunities in the refining and power sectors.

Femi Otedola, Chairman, Geregu Power Plc

Nigerian business tycoon, Femi Otedola, has announced the completion of his divestment from Forte Oil, a leading Nigerian petroleum marketing company. In a message he posted to Instagram on Wednesday, the billionaire said he would now focus on his business in the power sector.

Last year, Otedola, who was Chairman of the oil company, said he would divest his 75 per cent shareholding in Forte Oil to maximize investment opportunities in the refining and power sectors.

In a statement released last December by Akinleye Olagbende, Forte Oil’s general counsel, the company said it had notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shareholders and the investing community about the planned sale of the company by its majority shareholder, Femi Otedola, who reportedly, "reached an agreement with the Prudent Energy team, investing through Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited, to divest of his full 75 per cent direct and indirect shareholding in the company’s downstream business."

In the message posted today, Otedola said, "A few years ago, my team and I embarked on an arduous task of transforming a moribund petroleum marketing business, African Petroleum Plc (formerly British Petroleum) into Forte Oil Plc; a leading integrated solutions provider with solid footprints in downstream petroleum marketing, Upstream Services and Power Generation and one in which we built intrinsic value to the benefits of our shareholders”

Originally known as African Petroleum (AP), the federal government divested its 40 per cent shareholding under the privatisation programme back in 2000. In 2007, Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited and its affiliates took over ownership of AP and the oil company was rebranded to Forte Oil in 2010.

“In line with my principle of business focus, we have divested from our marketing and upstream businesses and shall from now on focus and consolidate on the gains of our power generation business, Geregu Power Plc. We wish our successors the very best and urge them to build on our legacies which have been established since 1964,” Otedola said.

In the first quarter of 2019, Forte Oil recorded profit after tax of N3.3 billion, up 13.79 per cent compared to Q1 of 2018. Its revenue increased from N28 billion in Q1 2018 to N42 billion in a similar quarter of 2019.


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