Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has increased his equity holding in First HoldCo Plc to 18.1 per cent, consolidating his position as the largest single shareholder in the financial services group.
According to the company’s unaudited financial report for the year ended 31 December 2025, released on Friday, Otedola’s direct shareholding stood at 7.3 per cent, representing 3.3 billion ordinary shares. His indirect interest accounted for an additional 10.8 per cent, or 4.8 billion shares, bringing his combined stake to approximately 8.06 billion shares.
The latest disclosure reflects a series of strategic acquisitions made by the billionaire investor over the past year.
In December 2025, Otedola acquired an additional 370 million shares in the holding company at N40.10 per share, a transaction valued at about N14.8 billion. The shares were purchased through Calvados Global Services Limited, his special purpose investment vehicle, according to regulatory filings.
At the time of that transaction, estimates put his total stake at about 16.9 per cent. The newly released figures confirm that subsequent corporate actions, including a private placement, have lifted his effective ownership to over 18 per cent.
Market watchers link Otedola’s aggressive accumulation of banking stocks to his broader portfolio rebalancing. In the same month he increased his First HoldCo exposure, he divested his majority stake in Geregu Power Plc in a deal valued at roughly $750 million.
The transaction was financed by a consortium of lenders led by Zenith Bank. Sources familiar with the deal said the divestment freed up capital for deeper investments in the financial sector.
Meanwhile, First HoldCo disclosed that its private placement, concluded on 31 December 2025, attracted 10 applications from unnamed investors for a total of 2.6 billion shares, all of which were fully allotted. The exercise increased the group’s issued and fully paid-up share capital to 44.5 billion units from 41.9 billion previously.
Otedola’s growing influence contrasts sharply with the exit of former heavyweight shareholders. In July 2025, his long-time rivals in the ownership structure, Oba Otudeko and Oye Hassan-Odukale, sold off their holdings in an abrupt off-market transaction.
As many as 10.4 billion shares, representing nearly 25 per cent of First HoldCo’s outstanding ordinary shares, were traded in 17 off-market deals in a single day.
The company later confirmed that the sellers were Barbican Capital Limited and affiliates, as well as Leadway Assurance Company Limited and affiliates, while the buyer was RC Investment Management Limited.
With rival blocs exiting and fresh capital flowing in, analysts say Otedola’s expanded stake positions him as a central figure in shaping the strategic direction of First HoldCo at a time of heightened consolidation in Nigeria’s banking industry.