First HoldCo Plc has announced plans to divest shares currently held by RC Investment Management Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) involved in a recent controversial block deal, as part of efforts to boost transparency and maintain investor confidence.
Managing Director of First HoldCo, Wale Oyedeji, made the disclosure during an investor call in Lagos, according to a Bloomberg report. He clarified that the shares would be sold in the open market, although a specific timeline was not provided.
“We will be disposing those shares and there are a range of options available to us. Ultimately you will see that those shares will be disposed in the market,” Oyedeji said.
He added that RC Investment was only holding the shares “temporarily.” In July, Barbican Capital Limited, linked to former First Bank Chairman, Oba Otudeko, sold about 25 per cent of First HoldCo’s shares. Otudeko, who also chairs the Honeywell Group, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale, Group Managing Director of Leadway Assurance, disposed of a combined total of over 10 billion shares in First HoldCo through a block transaction.
The stake was transferred to RC Investment Management, but the lack of clarity around the beneficial ownership of the SPV had raised market concerns about a potential violation of disclosure regulations. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 24 confirmed that it had approved the transaction.
Despite the share divestment, Oyedeji assured investors that the company’s recapitalisation programme remains firmly on course. “Capital raising is progressing as planned and not impacted by the recent share divestment,” he said.
First HoldCo is targeting about N350 billion through private placements in the third quarter of 2025. This follows the successful completion of a rights issue earlier in the year, which raised N147 billion.
The capital raise aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) directive requiring banks with international licences to shore up their capital base to N500 billion as part of a broader financial sector reform.
