FIRST Bank Limited, or First Holdco, has confirmed RC Investment Management Limited as its biggest shareholder after earlier acquiring 10.433 billion units of shares in July.

The RC Investment’s share transaction was earlier linked to Chairman of First Bank or First Holdco, Mr Femi Otedola, who later denied involvement. The deal was expected to raise Mr Otedola’s stake in First Holdco to 36.7 percent, but he publicly said he wasn’t involved in the transaction. RC Investment had acquired the shares of two majority shareholders – Oba Otudeko and Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale – who were former shareholders.

According to the bank’s third quarter (Q3) financial statement seen by Economy Post, RC Investment Management Limited now has 24.92 percent holding in First Holdco, making it the majority owner of the bank.

RC Investment is followed by Mr Otedola, who now owns 16.1 percent share in the business, after acquiring 3.251 billion stocks (7.76 percent) directly and 3.491 billion (8.34 percent) indirectly. The bank described RC Investment Management Limited as a bridge holder, which means an investor who holds bridge funds ( temporary funding given to a company to cover expenses or operations until it gets long-term funding) before a major event such as merger, capital raise or initial public offer (IPO).

READ ALSO: In billion-naira puzzle, Nigerian govt, Otedola say not buyers of 10.43bn First Bank stocks

Hence, RC Investment and Mr Otedola hold 41.02 percent shares in First Holdco. Other shares are held by Mr Adebowale Oyedeji (indirect), and Mr Olusegun Alebiosu (direct and indirect), among other investors.

RC Investment

Economy Post had earlier reported that information on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) showed that the humongous First Bank transaction was brokered by First Securities Ltd, a firm within the FirstHoldCo Group. A number of firms were involved in the sell side of the transaction, including First Securities, CardinalStone Securities, Meristem Stockbrokers, Renaissance Capital, Regency Asset Management, United Capital Securities, and Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers.

Mr Otedola’s shares were acquired at N31 per share in 17 deals, reliable market sources told Economy Post. The buy transaction was made by Mr Babatunde Samuel Sule-led RC Investments Management Limited, a trustee in the transaction.

Mr Sule is the chief executive office of Rennaisance Capital (RenCap). He joined Renaissance Capital in 2018. Prior to joining Renaissance, he had been involved in the origination, structuring and distribution of products for domestic and international issuers across West Africa, according to Business Insider.

However, he did not buy the shares on behalf of Rennaisance Capital. At least no evidence points to that. RC Investments Management Limited, linked to Mr Sule, is a broker and trustee, and is not linked to RenCap, according to market sources.

Some stock brokers said RC Investments Management Limited was used by both First Holdco and the Nigerian government as a trustee for the transaction.

Mr Sule-linked RC Investment bought nearly 7.787 billion shares from Barbican Capital and RAML, owned by Mr Otudeko.

The firm also bought 2.647 billion shares from firms linked to Mr Hassan-Odukale such as Leadway Holdings, Leadway Pensure PFA, Haskal Holdings, and Leadway/NNPC Staff Pension Investment.

Apart from Rennaisance Capital, Mr Sule is equally connected to RC Africa Limited, Avuso Payment, Odde Properties, and Green Arrow Services Limited, according to Endole.

Financial experts said the transaction was initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to resolve the long-running battle between Mr Otedola and Mr Otudeko, which had earlier hampered the First Bank’s capacity to raise capital.

Earlier court processes

In August 2024, Economy Post had reported a raging fight at First Bank of Nigeria over who owned the largest share. The tussle was between Mr Otedola, and Mr Otudeko who owns Barbican Capital, which is affiliated to Honeywell, an Apapa, Lagos-based flour miller. Oba Otudeko is the founder and chairman of Honeywell Group.

READ ALSO: 10 things to know about First Bank ownership tussle

The contention was about who owned the largest share in First Holdco. Barbican Capital, owned by Otudeko, had claimed that it was the largest shareholder with 15.01 percent stake in First Holdco, alleging that Otedola owned only a 9.41 percent share. Barbican Capital claimed that its 5.38 billion units of shares in the bank had been altered by Nigeria’s oldest bank. First Holdco, however, disagreed, arguing that Barbican could not provide evidence of some of the shares it claimed to own.

First Holdco further argued that Barbican was concealing the fact of a verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regarding its alleged significant shareholdings. It noted that only 3.110 billion shares (representing 8.67 percent of Barbican’s total shares) of Barbican Capital’s total shares could be verified by the CBN, while its alleged 2.34 billion shares (representing 6.52 percent) could not be verified.

First Holdco had also claimed that Barbican Capital did not challenge the outcome of the verification exercise carried out by the CBN as the supervisory and regulatory body regarding share ownership. However, Barbican claimed that it had attached a statement by the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which is a computerised depository, clearing, settlement, and delivery system for transactions in securities. Barbican noted that CSCS’ statement showed that as at May 23, 2024, its shareholding stood at 5.386 billion shares.

Barbican went to court to seek clarification. However, the matter seems to have been resolved with the transaction.