Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has announced plans to invest $100 million (approx. ₦138 billion) in the Dangote refinery ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO).

Otedola disclosed this on Wednesday after leading top executives of First HoldCo on a visit to the refinery owned by Aliko Dangote.

According to him, the investment forms part of the refinery’s ongoing $2 billion private placement aimed at attracting private investors before the IPO.

“On a personal note, I appealed to him (Aliko Dangote). I’ve been here with him about 25 times, so my compensation is that he’s going to allocate shares worth $100 million to me in the private placement,” Otedola said.

He added that one of the reasons he sold his stake in Geregu Power Plant was to channel the proceeds into the Dangote refinery investment.

Dangote had earlier disclosed plans to list up to 10 percent of the refinery on the stock market through a cross-border IPO designed to attract both local and international investors.

Bloomberg recently reported that the refinery could be valued at as much as $50 billion.