The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it is investigating the acquisition of 4.77 billion shares of FBN Holdings by Oba Otudeko, chairman of Honeywell Group.

TheCable, quotes a top official of the commission, who confirmed the development on Wednesday as saying the capital market regulator had commenced a probe into the process of share acquisition by the Otudeko-led Honeywell Group.

“Presently, the SEC has not taken any position on the matter as it requires a careful investigation.”

The disclosure comes amid an ongoing dispute over a N13.5 billion debt between Honeywell Group and Ecobank.

Recently, Honeywell Group, through its affiliate, Barbican Capital Limited, acqired a total of 4,770,269,843 units of FBN Holdings’ shares.

The purchase brought the stake held by the company in the premier bank to 13.3 percent, making it the majority shareholder.

However, a few days after the purchase, Ecobank wrote a letter to FBN Holdings, asking the bank to reject the Otudeko-led Honeywell’s bid to become the company’s largest shareholder.

Ecobank claimed that Honeywell owes it a debt of N13.5 billion, a claim the company has denied.