First HoldCo will sell shares held by RC Investment, says MD

Wale Oyedeji, managing director of First HoldCo Plc, says the company will divest shares currently held by RC Investment Management Ltd., a special purpose vehicle (SPV) involved in a recent stake transfer.

Oyedeji spoke during an investor call in Lagos, according to a report by Bloomberg on Monday.

The managing director said the shares will be sold in the open market, but did not provide a timeline.

“We will be disposing those shares and there are a range of options available to us,” Oyedeji said.

“Ultimately you will see that those shares will be disposed in the market.”

He noted that RC Investment is only holding the shares “temporarily”.

In July, Barbican Capital Limited, a firm linked to former First Bank chairman, Oba Otudeko, sold about 25 percent of First HoldCo’s shares.

Otudeko, also the chairman of Honeywell Group, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale, group managing director of Leadway Assurance, major shareholders, had sold a combined total of over 10 billion shares in First HoldCo’s block deal.

The stake was transferred to RC Investment, but the identity of the beneficial owner was not disclosed, triggering concerns about a potential breach of disclosure regulations.

But on July 24, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it approved the transaction.

Further speaking during the call, Oyedeji said First HoldCo’s ongoing recapitalisation plan remains on track.

“Capital raising is progressing as planned and not impacted by the recent share divestment,” he said.

First HoldCo plans to raise about N350 billion through private placements in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.

This comes after securing the sum of N147 billion via a rights issue earlier in the year.

The capital raising exercise is in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) recapitalisation directive, which requires banks with international licences to raise their capital base to N500 billion.

On July 22, the CBN said only eight banks have fully met their recapitalisation requirements.