A week after Foluke Oyeleye and Ayoola Otudeko sold their stake in the owner of Nigeria’s oldest bank, the identity of the new investor is still unknown.
The SEC is seeking more details from the central bank about the sale of about 25% of First HoldCo Plc, according to the market regulator.
Kato Mukuru, founding partner at Emerging & Frontier Capital LLP, said “the market also needs to know what this means for the bank’s future strategic direction and its capital structure”.
A week after tycoons Foluke Oyeleye and Ayoola Otudeko sold their stake in the owner of Nigeria’s oldest bank the identity of the new investor is still under wraps, spurring queries by the market regulator and investors.
Barbican Capital Ltd., managed by Oyeleye and Otudeko, and other investors sold about 25% of First HoldCo Plc, the parent of First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., on July 16, according to data provided by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the shares are being held by RC Investment Management Ltd., a special purpose vehicle, the name of the beneficial owner is unknown. That prompted the SEC to seek more details from the central bank, the market regulator said in an emailed response.
Given the size of the sale, “this transaction must have been endorsed” by the Central Bank of Nigeria, said Kato Mukuru, founding partner at London-based Emerging & Frontier Capital LLP. “If that is the case, why have minority investors not been told who the beneficial owner of this controlling stake is?”
The central bank didn’t immediately respond to queries seeking comment.
First HoldCo has attracted investor attention in the past.
Some former board members and key shareholders including Oba Otudeko, ex-Chairman Tunde Hassan-Odukale and Femi Otedola, the current one, have sought to buy stakes in the firm. Otedola outbid the others to emerge as a key stakeholder and was appointed chairman in 2024.
The absence of disclosure prompted speculation that the government was behind the purchase, which President Bola Tinubu’s administration denied. Shares of the owner of the lender established in 1894, fell 3% on Tuesday in Lagos.
“The market also needs to know what this means for the bank’s future strategic direction and its capital structure,” Mukuru said.
With total assets of $17 billion, First HoldCo is Nigeria’s fifth-largest lender.
Credit: Bloomberg.Com
