Otedola buys extra 138 million shares in First HoldCo for ₦18.1 billion

Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has bought an extra 138 million shares in the financial services group. This purchase is worth about ₦18.1 billion.

The deal was made public on Friday through a regulatory filing signed by the group's Company Secretary, Abiola Baruwa.

Mr Otedola bought 138,041,465 shares at ₦131.2 per share via Calvados Global Services Limited. This new purchase makes up 0.30 percent of the company's total shares. Now, Mr Otedola owns 27.16 percent of the company’s issued share capital.

He has about 11.9 billion shares in the financial institution, valued at around ₦1.74 trillion. This is based on the share price of ₦146.20 as of 12:35 p.m. (WAT) on 7 August.

Steady Investment Growth

Mr Otedola has been increasing his investment in the company since he became its largest shareholder in 2021.

On 30 July, he raised his stake by acquiring another 1.78 billion shares worth about ₦222.2 billion. Just a week before that, on 22 July, he bought 706.1 million shares valued at ₦77.6 billion.

This was in addition to the 672.9 million shares he purchased in June for ₦29.6 billion. The June buy was part of the ₦45 billion second tranche of First HoldCo’s ₦350 billion private placement programme. Shares were sold at ₦44 per share during this offering.

Plans for the Future

The group plans to use the money raised from these sales to support First Bank of Nigeria Limited, its main commercial banking arm. This move is part of their effort to restore capital and strengthen their overall financial position.