Otedola buys 95.7 million shares in First HoldCo, raises stake to 27.7%

Femi Otedola, the chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has bought 95.7 million new shares in the banking group. This moves his stake in the company to 27.70 percent.

The Company Secretary, Abiola Baruwa, confirmed this in a filing on Monday. Mr Otedola purchased 95,699,240 additional shares at N131.48 each, totaling N12.58 billion.

This new share purchase is 0.21 percent of the company’s total shares. The transaction was done through Calvados Global Services Limited.

After this purchase, Mr Otedola now owns about 12.14 billion shares in First HoldCo. This represents 27.70 percent of the company’s total shares.

Based on the opening price of N129.95 on Monday at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr Otedola’s total shares are valued at about N1.58 trillion.

This latest share acquisition is not the first for Mr Otedola. He has been increasing his investment in the bank recently.

In the last few weeks, he has bought over 2.16 billion shares of the lender. This new purchase is the third time in August that Mr Otedola has increased his stake in the financial group. He previously bought 147.7 million and 138 million shares on 17 August and 7 August, respectively.

Also, on 30 July, he boosted his stake by acquiring 1.78 billion shares at N124.90 each, which was worth about N222.2 billion.

Mr Otedola’s steady buying has made him the largest shareholder of First HoldCo. He has surpassed RC Investment, which used to hold the largest stake at about 22.94 percent.

RC Investment became the trustee for 10.4 billion shares in July 2025. This happened after Oba Otudeko and Oye Hassan-Odukale, both major shareholders, sold off their shares in a single day.