First HoldCo Seeks Buyers for $1 Billion Block of Bridge-Held Shares
Nigeria's most valuable bank by market capitalisation, First HoldCo, is seeking buyers for a $1 billion block of bridge-held shares, a major capital markets transaction with broad implications for Nigerian banking. Separately, billionaire Femi Otedola is reportedly targeting a majority stake of over 51 percent in the same institution, signalling a potential consolidation play.
First HoldCo: Otedola's playbook is the only story here
Femi Otedola has already spent over N600 billion of his own money buying into First HoldCo. He's now publicly signalling he wants to go from 25.8% to over 51%.
The $1 billion share sale — technically about clearing a bridge structure left over from last year's ownership crisis — hands him the perfect moment. A flood of new buyers sets a market price; Otedola keeps accumulating quietly alongside them.
His track record is specific: he took Forte Oil from 28% to 75%, then sold. He took Geregu Power from 51% to 95%, listed it, then trimmed back. The pattern isn't buy-and-hold — it's acquire control, restructure, extract value, exit on your terms.
For Nigeria's banking ecosystem, the question isn't whether the share sale clears. It's whether majority control of the country's most valuable bank concentrating in one billionaire's hands is reform — or just a very expensive personal trade.
4 sources
- Nigeria’s most valuable bank seeks buyers for $1bn block of bridge-held shares · businessday.ng · T2
- EXCLUSIVE: Otedola targets over 51% stake in First HoldCo · nairametrics.com · T2
- Nigéria: First HoldCo instaure un dividende minimum de 60 % du bénéfice annuel · financialafrik.com · T2
- How Nigeria’s oldest bank rose to No.1 by market value · businessday.ng · T2