Honeywell Group Assures Value Proposition For FBN Holdings Stakeholders

Honeywell Group has assured of value creation for all stakeholders in FBN Holdings after it recently increased its stake in FBN Holdings.

Honeywell Group had earlier purchased over 4.7 billion units of the First Bank Holdco’s shares through its affiliate – Barbican Capital Limited. The purchase gives Honeywell Group a combined interest of about 15.1% equity.

In a letter addressed to the company secretary of FBN Holdings and published by THISDAY on Tuesday, July 11, the managing director/CEO of the Group, Mr Obafemi Otudeko shared the value Honeywell Group brings to the holdco, including its vision and its investments in other sectors. The letter introduced Honeywell Group as “a dedicated long-term investor committed to investing in great businesses with immense growth potential”.

Otudeko also noted, in the letter, that Honeywell Group brings a lot to the table including “a diverse senior management team with over 150 years combined experience in various professional qualifications and specialties.

“This international and gender-balanced team comprises over 60 years of active investment banking experience with leading international firms, including Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Standard Chartered, Standard Bank and Deutsche Bank, 50 years of Honeywell Group Limited professional accounting experience (including with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Baker Tilly), and 60 years of legal experience (including with Bentley Edu & Co, Aelex, and Banwo and Ighodalo).

“We bring this breadth and depth of experience to bear in our investment activities,” he said.

Otudeko added that their intentions are to collaborate with stakeholders to create value for every shareholder and build long-term relationships across the board.

“Our approach involves working closely with stakeholders with a shared vision to foster the creation and enhancement of value for all. We understand that this requires time and patience. Our intention is to follow this approach in respect of our investment in FBN Holdings, an iconic institution which we greatly respect and with which we have a deep and long-term relationship, as customers, investors, and board members,” Otudeko said.

At the close of the stock market last week, FBN Holding’s market capitalisation had moved from N612 billion at N17.05 per share the previous week, to N728.67 billion at N20.3 per share.

The N20.3 per share price of FBN Holdings was the highest so far in 2023 and an all-time high since the tier-one bank restructured into a Holdings company.