Tony Elumelu increases stake in UBA with N560m shares

Tony Elumelu, the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has bought more shares in order to boost his ownership interest in the firm.

This was in response to the business magnate Femi Otedola’s assertion that Elumelu had sold his stake in UBA.

In the Nigerian stock market on Tuesday, he bought 70 million shares of UBA through his investment firm, HH Capital Limited.

Elumelu, who is also the chairman of Transcorp Plc, spent N560 million for the shares to increase his controlling interest in the bank from 6.96 percent as of the end of December 2022 to 7.16 percent.

In a document UBA submitted on Wednesday to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), he confirmed the occurrence.

Elumelu’s interest in UBA increased as a result, jumping from 2.38 billion shares valued at N18.92 billion to 2.45 billion shares, increasing his investment to N19.48 billion.

He holds 194.66 million shares directly, while the remaining shares are indirectly held via HH Capital Limited, (700.84 million shares), Heirs Holdings Limited (1.81 billion shares), and Heirs Alliance Limited (231.08 million).

Elumelu purchased the shares on the same day that his former business associate said he betrayed him about the UBA agreement.

In addition, Otedola stated Elumelu used his shares to pay back loans he obtained from the bank after he declared bankruptcy. He said the UBA chairman had asked him for financial assistance during the bank’s takeover.