Otedola spends N29.6bn to cement 20% grip on First HoldCo

Femi Otedola has tightened his grip on First HoldCo, acquiring 680 million shares in the financial institution through a private placement and raising his controlling stake to 20.42 percent.

Otedola acquired the shares for N29.6 billion, after First HoldCo offered shares at N44 to private investors — a price below the stock’s Thursday closing price of N61.

A source with knowledge of the transaction confirmed the scale of his participation. “The private placement has been completed and Mr. Otedola acquired about 680.8 million shares investing about N30 billion in the bank (Holdco). Another institutional investor who is a shareholder acquired most of the rest,” the source said.

Together, Otedola and the unnamed institutional shareholder accounted for 90 percent of the N45 billion in shares First HoldCo offered to investors through the private placement.

The transaction has pushed the group past a key regulatory milestone. Following the private placement, First HoldCo’s share capital has increased to N525.6 billion — above the minimum regulatory capital requirement of N500 billion set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN’s recapitalisation directive has put pressure across the banking sector to shore up capital bases within a defined timeframe.

The latest acquisition brings Otedola’s total shareholding in First HoldCo to approximately 9.285 billion shares. It follows a transaction in May in which he acquired 549.53 million shares worth N43.41 billion through Calvados Global Services Limited, his investment vehicle.

The private placement forms part of a broader capital-raising effort. First HoldCo successfully completed the second tranche of an ongoing N350 billion private placement programme, which the company plans to inject into First Bank of Nigeria Limited, its subsidiary, as part of its capital restoration plan and broader balance sheet strengthening programme.

The group’s ambitions stretch further. At its 14th annual general meeting in May, First HoldCo’s shareholders approved plans to raise up to N253.09 billion through a combination of public offers, private placements, rights issues, bonus issues, scrip dividends, and other equity instruments across domestic and international markets — moves aimed at achieving a N1 trillion capital base.