Billionaire Femi Otedola buys 680 million more First HoldCo shares and tightens his grip with a 20.42 percent stake

Femi Otedola has deepened his hold on First HoldCo Plc, acquiring approximately 680 million shares through the banking group's recently completed N45 billion ($32.8 million) private placement and lifting his total stake to 20.42 percent, according to a placement allotment document seen by Nairametrics.

The acquisition, in which Otedola was allotted 672.9 million shares valued at approximately N29.6 billion ($21.6 million), further entrenches his position as the single largest shareholder in the financial services group. Investors in the private placement subscribed at N44 ($0.032) per share, a significant discount to First HoldCo's closing market price of N60.50 on the day the placement was concluded. The stock has traded between a low of approximately N49 and a high of N83 so far this year, closing at N61.00 on Thursday.

Nairametrics reported that Otedola and one other institutional shareholder together acquired approximately 90 percent of the N45 billion ($32.8 million) private placement round. "The private placement has been completed and Mr. Otedola acquired about 680.8 million shares investing about N30 billion ($21.9 million) in the bank. Another institutional investor who is a shareholder acquired most of the rest," a source with knowledge of the transaction said.

The latest allotment brings Otedola's total shareholding in First HoldCo to an estimated 9.285 billion shares. His most recent open-market acquisition before the private placement was executed on May 13, 2026, through Calvados Global Services Limited, involving the purchase of 549.5 million shares at an average price of N79 ($0.058) per share, valued at approximately N43.41 billion ($31.7 million). That transaction lifted his stake from 8.055 billion shares reported in the company's full-year 2025 audited accounts to 8.605 billion shares. The private placement allotment has added a further 680 million to that total.

With the latest capital injection, First HoldCo's share capital has risen to approximately N525.6 billion ($383.4 million), placing it comfortably above the N500 billion ($364.7 million) minimum capital threshold the Central Bank of Nigeria has set for banks with international authorisation. The group had previously injected approximately N270 billion ($196.9 million) into First Bank of Nigeria as part of its recapitalisation programme ahead of the March 31, 2026 regulatory deadline, and the N45 billion ($32.8 million) second tranche now builds further on that foundation.

Nairametrics also reported that a further tranche of the private placement is being planned and could be offered at a price close to the N44 ($0.032) per share paid by investors in the completed round. First HoldCo shareholders separately approved plans at the company's 14th Annual General Meeting on May 29, 2026, to raise up to N253.099 billion ($184.6 million) as part of the group's broader strategy to achieve N1 trillion ($729.4 million) in paid-up capital, a target that is double the Central Bank's N500 billion minimum requirement.

Otedola became chairman of First HoldCo, formerly FBN Holdings, in January 2021, having built his stake gradually since acquiring a strategic position in the company. His accelerating share purchases over the past year represent one of the most deliberate accumulation strategies by any single shareholder in the recent history of Nigerian banking, combining open-market purchases through Calvados Global Services with participation in private placement rounds to steadily push his ownership from single digits toward the 20 percent threshold that typically confers significant influence over corporate governance and major strategic decisions.

First HoldCo reported a 72.2 percent year-on-year increase in profit before tax to N321 billion ($234.1 million) in the first quarter of 2026, with customer deposits at First Bank Nigeria standing at N18.4 trillion ($13.4 billion), figures that have helped sustain investor confidence in the recapitalisation programme Otedola has overseen since taking the chairmanship.