Otedola raises stake in First HoldCo to 16.9% with N15 billion new share acquisition

He bought the shares through Calvados Global Services Limited, his special purpose acquisition vehicle.

Femi Otedola, the chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has further consolidated his position as the top shareholder of the financial services group, with his latest share purchase valued at N14.8 billion.

The billionaire entrepreneur, whose investment interest cuts across energy, banking and real estate, procured 370 million shares at N40.1 each on Thursday, according to a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

He bought the shares through Calvados Global Services Limited, his special purpose acquisition vehicle, the document showed.

The latest acquisition by the majority owner of Lagos-listed electricity provider, Geregu Power Plc, takes his combined ownership in First HoldCo to 16.9 per cent. That is equivalent to 7.1 billion shares.

In September, Mr Otedola acquired 64.9 million shares valued at N2 billion in the banking group: 39.3 million units worth N1.2 billion in his own name and 25.6 million units estimated at N792.5 million via Calvados Global Services.

As of half-year 2025, he held 3.2 billion shares directly and 3.5 billion indirectly in the entity, according to First HoldCo’s unaudited financial report for the period.

This July, Mr Otedola’s former closest rivals in the top ownership of First HoldCo, Oba Otudeko and Oye Hassan-Odukale, abruptly sold off their holdings in the group.

As many as 10.4 billion shares, translating into almost 25 per cent of the group’s entire ordinary shares were traded off-market in 17 deals on a single day, a trader told PREMIUM TIMES at the time.

“The sellers were Barbican Capital Limited & affiliates and Leadway Group & affiliates, and the buyer was RC Investment Management Limited,” First HoldCo said in a statement issued after the transactions.

Mr Otudeko controls Barbican Capital Limited, while Mr Odukale is the CEO of Leadway Assurance Company Limited.

Mr Otedola became the chair of the board of directors of First HoldCo in January 2024.