Billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola, on Wednesday announced the completion of his divestment plans from Forte Oil.
Otedola in a message posted on his Instagram page said he has divested from the business and will now concentrate on his power generation business – Geregu Power Plc.
He explained how Forte Oil was built from a moribund business – then African Petroleum Plc and formerly British Petroleum, noting that his team successfully built the company into one of the most profitable in the downstream petroleum marketing sub-sector.
“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.
“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.”
The oil magnate 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.
He 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
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