RC Investment Management Limited has sold 10.43 billion shares of First Bank's holding company, First HoldCo, at ₦110 per share, generating proceeds of ₦1.15 trillion. The entity acquired the shares earlier at ₦31 each, spending ₦323 billion in total across 17 off-market transactions in July 2025. The purchase absorbed stakes from two major shareholders: Oba Otudeko's group, which sold about 7.79 billion shares through Barbican Capital and nominee accounts, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale's group, which offloaded 2.28 billion shares through Leadway Holdings, Leadway Assurance, and pension custodial accounts. The sale allowed both parties to exit without destabilising the market, a move facilitated by Renaissance Capital, which set up RC Investment Management for the transaction.
The company was incorporated in Nigeria on May 8, 2024, with Samuel Sule, chief executive of Renaissance Capital Africa, listed as the person with significant control. Regulatory approvals from the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission were obtained before the shares were released to the exchange. The resale price of ₦110 represents a significant discount to the stock's prevailing market price, fueling strong investor demand. This trade generated a gross profit of approximately ₦824 billion for RC Investment Management. Some media outlets initially mischaracterised the transaction as a capital raise by First Bank, but no new shares were issued and the bank received no proceeds from the sale.
|||NAJABUZZ_TAKE||| A single investment vehicle made ₦824 billion by buying and reselling First HoldCo shares, raising questions about how such profits are structured in large off-market deals. The transaction involved major Nigerian financial figures and entities, yet the ultimate beneficiaries of RC Investment Management remain undisclosed. This lack of transparency means shareholders and regulators cannot assess potential conflicts or concentration risks tied to the trade.
The identity of the investors who financed RC Investment Management's ₦323 billion purchase of First HoldCo shares remains undisclosed, despite the entity making an estimated ₦824 billion gross gain from the resale. This lack of transparency matters because it obscures who ultimately benefited from a transaction that reshaped ownership in one of Nigeria's largest banks, while operating within legal structures that allow such financial backing to stay hidden from public view.
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