Billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola, on Wednesday announced the
completion of his divestment plans from Forte Oil.
Mr Otedola in a message posted on his verified Instagram page said he
has divested from the business and will now concentrate on his power
generation business.
“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,” the oil magnate said.
He explained that from a moribund business, his team successfully
built the company into one of the most profitable in the downstream
petroleum marketing sub-sector.
“A few years ago,” he wrote, “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.”
Mr Otedola had earlier announced the sale of his 75 per cent direct
and indirect shareholdings in the oil company.
A disclosure notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had said
that he reached an agreement with another energy firm, Prudent Energy,
which is investing through Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited.
“Otedola’s divestment from the downstream business is pursuant to his
decision to explore and maximise business opportunities in refining
and petrochemicals,” a disclosure sent to the Nigerian bourse said.
Formerly known as African Petroleum Plc, Forte Oil operates mostly in
the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
On Wednesday, the billionaire also wished his successors well in their
management of the company.
“We wish our successors the very best and urge them to build on our
legacies which have been established since 1964,” he wrote.
