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Nigerian multimillionaire banker Herbert Wigwe has purchased an additional 84.5 million shares in Access Holdings, the country’s leading financial services conglomerate, in a deal worth more than $1.5 million. Wigwe made the purchase in a move to consolidate his holdings in the pan-African financial services conglomerate.
The transaction, which solidifies his position as the bank’s largest shareholder, is his first block transaction this year, and it comes seven months after the tier-1 bank transformed into a holding structure to drive its expansion plans, with the bank aiming to be present in 22 countries over the next five years.
According to information obtained by Billionaires.Africa, the Nigerian banking executive purchased a total of 84,500,000 shares last week in two separate transactions on Nov. 3 and 4 at a price of N7.95 ($0.018) per share.
Wigwe spent N671.78 million ($1.53 million) in total cash consideration to increase his stake from 4.27 percent, or 1,517,850,729 shares, to 4.51 percent, or 1,602,350,729 shares.
The transaction, which increased the market value of his stake in Access Holdings to nearly $30 million, solidified his interest in the leading financial services group and his position as one of the country’s wealthiest investors and bank owners.
Access Holdings is Nigeria’s largest financial services group by assets and one of the most capitalized financial institutions on the Nigerian Exchange. It has operations in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia, and Mozambique.
Despite a difficult macroeconomic environment and operational challenges, Access Holdings reported a double-digit percent increase in earnings at the end of the first nine months of its 2022 fiscal year, with profits exceeding $310 million.
As a result of the strong financial performance, the group’s total assets increased by 14.65 percent, from N11.7 trillion ($26.7 billion) to N13.45 trillion ($30.7 billion), solidifying its position as the country’s largest bank in terms of assets.
