Nigerian banking tycoon and executive Herbert Wigwe has purchased an additional 45 million shares in Access Holdings Plc, a pan-African financial services conglomerate, in a deal worth more than $800,000, cementing his position as the bank’s largest shareholder.
The transaction is his first share purchase transaction in Access Holdings since the tier-1 bank completed its structural transformation into a holding company more than seven months ago to support its global expansion plans, with the bank aiming to be present in 22 countries over the next five years.
Wigwe, a leading businessman and Access Holdings’ group managing director, purchased the additional 45,000,000 shares in the group through his Mauritius-based investment holding company, Tengen Holding Limited, according to a bourse disclosure seen by Billionaires.Africa.
The 45 million shares were purchased on the Nigerian Exchange on Wed., Nov. 3, for N7.95 ($0.018) per share, as the Nigerian multimillionaire banker spent N357.75 million ($814,230) to increase his stake in the leading lender.
His equity stake in the top financial services provider increased thanks to the recent transaction from 1,517,850,729 shares, or 4.27 percent, to 1,562,850,729 shares, or 4.397 percent, at the time of writing this report.
At the current price level, the market value of his stake in Access Holdings is N12.42 billion ($28.28 million), cementing his position as one of the richest investors on the local bourse.
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.
As of press time on Nov. 6, shares in the leading group were worth N7.95 ($0.018) per share, giving it a market capitalization of N282.58 billion ($643.1 million) at the time of writing.
Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and operational difficulties, 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.
According to figures from the group’s recently published financial statement, profit rose by 12.4 percent during the nine-month period, from N122.03 billion ($278.6 million) in 2021 to N137 billion ($312.8 million).
