Herbert Wigwe, a Nigerian multimillionaire banker and the CEO of Access Holdings, has increased his stake in the Lagos-based financial services holding company by purchasing shares worth $3.51 million.
According to a notification published on the Nigerian Exchange, Wigwe purchased 140 million shares of Access Holdings on the local bourse at a price of N11.55 ($0.0251) per share, bringing the total cash consideration for the transaction to N1.67 billion ($3.511 million).
The latest transaction has increased Wigwe’s stake in Access Holdings from 8.34 to 8.95 percent, or 2,965,789,014 to 3,105,789,014 ordinary shares.Â
Since the beginning of the year, Wigwe’s shareholding in the Nigerian financial services group has increased from 5.44 percent or 1,755,600,730 shares to 9.62 percent, cementing his position as the top shareholder in the Lagos-based lender.
Access Holdings is one of Nigeria’s largest financial services groups, with operations in 12 African countries.
The group is expanding its presence in Europe, including plans to consolidate its existing operations in London and launch a new unit in France, positioning the company for further growth and success.
In the first three months of 2023, the Lagos-based financial services holding company recorded a profit increase of 23.9 percent from N57.82 billion ($124.62 million) in the first three months of 2022, to N71.66 billion ($154.5 million), according to the group’s recently published financial results.
With a market capitalization of N377 billion ($816.16 million), Access Holdings is currently the fourteenth most valuable Nigerian exchange company.
The market value of Wigwe’s stake in Access Holdings is N32.92 billion ($71.49 million), cementing his position as one of the richest investors on the Nigerian Exchange.
