Yemisi Izuora
Femi Otedola, has completed the sell of his majority stake in indigenous oil company, Forte Oil, switching business focus to the power sector, in particular, the Geregu gas and power project.
Otedola’s market action follows the completion of the sale of 75 per cent of his investment interest in FO, which is reported to be around N64bn.
In divesting from the company Otedola, in a release issued on Wednesday noted that, “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.”
He pointed out that in line with his tried and tested 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.” By leaving the FO turnaround legacy, Otedola attempts the challenge of running a profitable and scalable power franchise.
The move into the power sector is a strong strategic realignment of business objectives with national pain points. By migrating from the Oil business, Otedola has made a bold statement concerning his interpretation of the changing local business environment where the power sector is likely to appear more sustainable and profitable.