Alain Nkontchou, a Cameroonian banking tycoon, has completed the purchase of an additional 22,774,579 ordinary shares in Ecobank Transnational Incorporation, one of Africa’s leading banking conglomerates, for N286.28 million ($690,000).
Nkontchou, the chairman of the Togo-based financial services conglomerate, held a beneficial 0.98-percent stake in Ecobank prior to his recent acquisition after purchasing an additional 131,379,263 ordinary shares in two separate transactions on Sept. 1 and Dec. 20, 2021.
Information gathered by Billionaires.Africa revealed that the Cameroonian banking tycoon purchased 22,774,579 shares in two separate transactions for 6,236,024 shares in April and a total of 16,538,555 shares in May at a cost of N12 ($4.012) and N12.9 ($3.682) per share, respectively.
In total, Nkontchou spent N286.28 million ($690,000) to increase his stake from 0.98 percent at the start of the year to 1.1 percent at the time of writing this report. As a result, his stake in the company grew from 179,019,674 to 201,794,253 shares.
Ecobank is one of West and Central Africa’s leading independent regional banking groups, serving wholesale and retail customers in 36 African countries.
In the first quarter of 2022, the Togo-based financial services conglomerate delivered a 25-percent increase in its profit before tax to $125 million, while its diluted earnings per share increased by 29 percent to $0.27 per share thanks to improved efficiency in its banking operations.
As of press time, May 13, shares in Ecobank on the Nigerian Exchange were trading at N12.5 ($0.0301), unchanged from their opening price on the local bourse this morning, as bearish and bullish sentiments were cleared out evenly.
At this price, the market value of Nkontchou’s 1.1-percent stake in the pan-African bank is valued at N2.52 billion ($6.07 million).
