Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola spends $9 million more on First HoldCo shares

Femi Otedola bought another 95,699,240 shares in First HoldCo Plc on Monday, spending 12.58 billion naira, or about $9.05 million, and paying a lower price than he did on his previous purchase ten days earlier.

The shares were acquired at 131.48 naira each through Calvados Global Services Limited, the vehicle Otedola has used to assemble his position in the banking group he chairs, according to a notification of insider dealing filed with the Nigerian Exchange on Monday. The filing records the transaction as executed in Lagos on Aug. 24 and identifies Calvados as a company related to Otedola in his capacity as a significant shareholder. Conversion uses 1,390 naira to the dollar.

The purchase price marks a change of conditions. Otedola paid 140 naira a share on Aug. 14 and the stock closed at 148.35 naira on Aug. 7 after hitting a record earlier that week. Monday's price sits 6.1% below what he paid ten days ago and 11.4% below the high. Nigerian equities slipped to a six-week low around Aug. 20, and he has kept buying through the decline.

Otedola now holds roughly 12.34 billion shares, or about 27.6% of First HoldCo, on Billionaires.Africa calculations applying Monday's purchase to the holding of 12.24 billion shares he confirmed after the Aug. 14 transaction. Monday's block accounts for around 0.21% of the company. At 131.48 naira the full position is worth about 1.62 trillion naira, or roughly $1.17 billion.

The accumulation has been relentless. He took 549.54 million shares in May for about 43.41 billion naira, added 672.9 million in June through the second tranche of a private placement priced at 44 naira, then bought 706.13 million shares on July 22 for 77.58 billion naira. On July 30 he made his largest single purchase of the year, 1.78 billion shares at 124.9 naira for 222.21 billion naira. August has brought three more transactions: 138.04 million shares at 131.20 naira on Aug. 6, 147.74 million at 140 naira on Aug. 14, and Monday's block.

Otedola has said he wants more than 51% of the company, telling Nairametrics that majority ownership is necessary to drive the reforms and restructuring required to unlock value. He has pointed to Forte Oil, where he went from 28% to 75% before exiting in 2019, and to Geregu Power, where he built 51% to 95% before reducing it to 77% at the 2022 listing.

Getting there runs through a regulatory obstacle he has not yet reached. Under the Investments and Securities Act and Securities and Exchange Commission rules on mergers and acquisitions, a shareholder crossing 30% of a public company's voting shares must make a mandatory takeover offer to the remaining holders. At roughly 27.6%, Otedola is inside two and a half percentage points of that line, and the blocks he has been buying move him about 0.2 to 0.3 points at a time.

He took the chairmanship in January 2024 after a four-year contest for control. That fight ended in July last year when Oba Otudeko and Tunde Hassan-Odukale sold their combined 10.43 billion shares, a quarter of the company, to RC Investment Management at 31 naira apiece. Otedola has described his investment as a long-term generational commitment rather than a turnaround play, and told shareholders it has been entirely self-funded.

The share price has run far ahead of the group's recent earnings. First HoldCo reported revenue of 1.47 trillion naira for 2025, down 15.1%, with earnings falling 80.2% to 132.68 billion naira after exceptional charges. First-quarter 2026 results pointed to recovery, with interest income rising to 704.4 billion naira. The stock gained 131.13% during July alone, closing that month at 129.55 naira against 56.05 naira at the end of June, and the company passed Zenith Bank to become the most valuable lender on the exchange.