Weeks after Femi Otedola acquired 6% of Transcorp, which triggered a scramble for the conglomerate’s shares as they doubled within weeks, the billionaire investor has issued a statement, shedding light on the events that led to some the decisions surrounding the deal, which became a notorious topic last month.

Recall that Tony Elumelu, via his special purpose vehicle, Heirs Holdings, quickly increased his stake in Transcorp to 25.5%, cementing his place as the company’s biggest shareholder. This was after Otedola agreed to sell his entire 6% stake to Heir Holdings.

While there has been a lot of media speculations about what really transpired between the billionaires, Otedola’s statement on Monday reveals that there is more to the story than people know. He talked about his business relationship with Elumelu, dating back to 2005, and the motive behind his move to acquire Transcorp for N250 billion.

He said Elumelu had double-crossed him in 2012, after he informed the UBA chief of his intention to go into power business, specifically the Ughelli Power Plant.

Read the full statement below:

“In 2005, while Tony was the Managing Director of Standard Trust Bank he approached me to get funds to acquire UBA. I enthusiastically gave him $20 million, which was N2 billion at that time to buy the necessary shares in UBA for the acquisition. After a short period of time, the share price moved up and I decided it was a good moment to sell and get out of the bank. However, Tony appealed to me to hold on to the shares as he was convinced that there were future prospects – so I kept the shares.”

“I became Chairman of Transcorp Hotel in 2007 with a shareholding of 5% and unknowingly Tony gradually started buying shares quietly.”

“By the following year in 2008, I went bankrupt in Nigeria. Tony proceeded to take my shares in UBA to service the interest on my loans and he also took over my shares in Africa Finance Corporation, where I was the largest shareholder.”

“Shortly after, Albert Okumagba informed me that an American firm wanted to acquire my shares in Transcorp, which I then agreed to sell. However, this supposed American firm turned out to be Tony Elumelu. The revelation of this prompted me to resign as Chairman of the hotel.”

“Years later in 2012 Tony said he wanted to see me so we met in my office where I had previously had a meeting with foreign investors who had not yet departed the premises. Curious to know, he asked what sort of meeting I had had and I disclosed that I wanted to go into the power business, specifically Ughelli Power Plant. Tony quietly went ahead to bid for Ughelli and he outbid me by offering to buy the plant for $300 million.”

“And as some would say: the rest is history.”

“Fast forward to the present…”

“I offered to buy Transcorp Plc for N250 billion, but unfortunately, my offer was rejected. My goal was to maximize the company’s potential as a Nigerian conglomerate with a market cap of at least N2 trillion instead of the current N40 billion, but it seems some shareholders have a different vision.”

“As a businessman, I believe in healthy competition and market dynamics. Two captains cannot man a ship, and I respect the majority shareholder’s decision to buy me out. This is the nature of the game.”

“But let me be clear: my offer was made with the best intentions for Transcorp Plc and its shareholders. I saw an opportunity to unlock the company’s full potential and create value for everyone involved.”

“It’s important for investors to understand that free entry and free exit are crucial to healthy markets. The scramble for shares after my acquisition is a testament to the value that Transcorp Plc can offer, and I hope the company continues to thrive under new leadership.”

“My message to Transcorp Plc and its shareholders is this: I remain committed to the growth and success of Nigerian businesses, and I will always be looking for ways to create value for all stakeholders. Stakeholders are unfortunately always shortchanged by getting stipends while the owners and managers of the business live a jet-set lifestyle, which is detrimental to the stakeholders. Thank you for the opportunity to engage in this exciting chapter of Transcorp’s history.” Femi Otedola

Meanwhile, Transcorp power led by Elumelu has won the bid to take over Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), according a statement issued by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday.

“At the meeting of the National Council on Privatization (NCP), the council approved Transcorp Power consortium as the preferred bidder of the acquisition of the Abuja Distribution Company,” he said at the commissioning of the Afam 3-fast power plant in Oyigbo LGA, Rivers state.

This means that Transcorp Power has been delisted from the routine evaluation and monitoring of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), underlining a milestone for the company.

LinkedIn, the social media network for professionals has joined the fray of job-cutting with a move to reduce headcount by about 700.

The Microsoft-owned company, which has 20,000 employees, made the announcement on Monday, revealing that it is also shutting down its China-focused job application as the tech winter lingers.

Global economic downturn has seen big players in the tech industry significantly cut their workforce as cutting costs become watchwords for companies fighting to stay afloat. Though compared to other companies towing this path, including its parent Microsoft, LinkedIn recorded notable quarterly profits last year.

The company’s decision to cut jobs underlines the pressure the global economic outlook is mounting on companies. More than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut in the past six months, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Amazon leads the pack of tech companies’ layoffs with 27,000 job cuts, the most in its history. Others include social media conglomerate Meta, which has cut 21,000 jobs, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which laid off 12,000 employees and microblogging app, Twitter, which also has cut its workforce by more than 7,500.

Layoffs.fyi said that 5,000 tech jobs have been eliminated in May alone, before LinkedIn’s announcement.

LinkedIn, which makes revenue selling ads and offering premium services generated $14.5 billion revenue in 2022. The company was bought for around $26 billion in 2016 by Microsoft, which has in recent months, announced about 10,000 job cuts. It also took a $1.2 billion charge related to the layoffs, according to Reuters.

In a letter to employees, quoted by Reuters, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said the move to cut roles in its sales, operations and support teams was aimed at streamlining the company’s operations and would remove layers to help make quicker decisions.

“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote.

A LinkedIn spokesperson said the vendors were “external partners” who would take on new and existing work.

Roslansky also said in the letter that the changes would result in creating 250 new jobs. The spokesperson said that employees affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply for those roles.

LinkedIn also said it was eliminating the slimmed down jobs app that it offers in China after it decided in 2021 to mostly withdraw from the country, citing a “challenging” environment. The remaining China app, called InCareers, will be phased out by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said.

“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service,” the company told users of the website.

LinkedIn will retain a presence in China to help companies operating there to hire and train employees outside the country, the company spokesperson said.

As the fight to save the naira from further devaluation continues, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has devised a new measure to increase liquidity of foreign exchange in Nigeria.

On Monday, the CBN granted foreign banks permission to give loans to Nigerians and companies operating in Nigeria in dollars, a move that will likely boost dollar liquidity in the country.

Under the authorization, foreign bank representatives are allowed to work with their parent firms in obtaining and syndicating foreign currency-denominated loans (dollar loans) to Nigerian companies.

This was disclosed in the Guidelines for the Regulation of Foreign Bank Representative Offices in Nigeria, signed by the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Muhammad Musa, which explains that the policy corresponds with the CBN’s mandate to maintain financial system stability.

In establishing a representative office in Nigeria, the CBN said a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CBN and the applicant’s home regulatory supervisor is essential. “Where such an MOU is non-existent, the CBN will work with the home regulatory agency to establish/execute an MOU as soon as possible,” it said.

“Not later than three months after obtaining the Approval-In-Principle, the promoters of a proposed office shall submit an application for the grant of a final license to the CBN,” the apex bank said.

According to Musa, the rules are supported by Sections 6(1) and 8(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 (BOFIA), which stipulate that “no foreign bank shall operate in Nigeria without the prior approval of the CBN.”

The guidelines apply to any bank licensed under any foreign law with its registered head office outside Nigeria, as well as any financial institution licensed under any foreign law whose primary business includes the receipt of deposits, the granting of loans, and/or the provision of current and savings accounts, according to the CBN.

It also includes any foreign-based, foreign-owned functioning bank/financial holding company that owns a controlling stake in one or more banks or institutions whose core business involves accepting deposits, making loans, and providing current and savings accounts.

The CBN also granted the banks permission to promote the products and services of their foreign parent or an affiliate of the foreign parent that is licensed and domiciled outside of Nigeria.

They can also do research in Nigeria on behalf of the foreign parent and operate as a liaison between the foreign parent and local banks, private institutions in Nigeria, and other foreign parent clients situated in Nigeria.

Banks can also connect banks and other financial institutions to their parent company and provide information to Nigerian exporters about the regulations and markets of target countries where the overseas parent or any of the Group’s affiliates has a subsidiary.

Part of the responsibilities include gathering and disseminating economic and financial information or country reports to its foreign parents for use by their customers, as well as assisting their customers who want to invest in Nigeria or do business with Nigerian companies in accordance with the current Data Protection Regulations.

They are also licensed to connect exporters with potential consumers in jurisdictions where the parent firm operates, as well as to assist Nigerian exporters in identifying new markets through the parent company’s foreign offices.

“Representative offices are permitted to record revenue, in so far as such revenue does not relate to non-permissible activities as set out in section 3.2 below and emanates from intra-group services rendered to the parent company with such revenue taxed in accordance with transfer-pricing regulations. Revenue in this provision is limited to line items such as staff costs and business premises leasing fees,” the CBN said.

Banks, however, are not permitted in Nigeria to perform services identified as banking business or to engage in any commercial or trade activity that may result in the production of bills for services rendered.

Insufficient dollar liquidity emanating from the drop in forex earned from oil export, has assumed a major role in Nigeria’s forex crisis. With depleted foreign reserves compounded by meager non-oil exports, the CBN has relied on forex-control monetary policies to ameliorate the impact of dollar scarcity on the naira.

However, some of the policies, which targeted the liberal use of dollars in the country, were described as rigid and poorly-conceived. Experts believe that some of the apex bank’s foreign exchange policies deepened the liquidity crisis and sent the naira on a downward spiral.

The new guideline which underpins a shift from the CBN’s earlier approach is expected to boost Nigeria’s forex inflow amid dwindling oil revenue. Foreign banks accounted for the largest percent of forex inflow to Nigeria in the H1 of 2022.

Out of the $3.11 billion recorded within the period, a sum of $889.9 million, which accounted for 28.6% of the total inflows, came in through Citibank, while Standard Chartered Bank received a total of $866.44 million, representing 27.9% of the total inflows. Stanbic IBTC came third with an inflow of $415.44 million, which accounts for 13.4% of the total forex inflows Nigeria received between January and June 2022.