Tony Elumelu ignores Otedola, increases stake in UBA with N4.48bn shares

Following claims by fellow billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, that Elumelu had sold his investment in UBA, the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Elumelu has acquired more shares to increase his ownership stake in the lender.

Otedola said the UBA chairman approached him for financial support during the acquisition of the bank, adding that when he went bankrupt, Elumelu used his shares to service loans he took from the bank.

Elumelu purchased 560 million shares in UBA on Tuesday through his investment company, HH Capital Limited, in the Nigerian stock market.

Elumelu, who is also the chairman of Transcorp Plc, paid N4.48 billion for the shares to raise his controlling stake in the bank to 8.59 percent from 6.96 percent reported at the end of December 2022.

He confirmed the development in a document UBA filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Wednesday.

This increased Elumelu’s investment in UBA to N23.37 billion with his shares in the bank rising from 2.38 billion valued at N18.92 billion to 2.94 billion shares.

He owns a direct share of 194.66 million while his indirect shares are held through HH Capital Limited (700.84 million shares), Heirs Holdings Limited (1.81 billion shares), and Heirs Alliance Limited (231.08 million).

Elumelu acquired the shares on the same day his former business partner alleged that he double-crossed him on the UBA deal.