Heirs Holdings acquires additional stake in UBA with N1.54bn share purchase

Agency report

Heirs Holdings Limited, the investment firm led by billionaire and philanthropist Tony Elumelu, has significantly increased its stake in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) with the acquisition of 45,034,044 additional shares.

The transaction, valued at approximately N1.54 billion, was disclosed in a filing with the Nigerian Exchange and signed by UBA’s Company Secretary and Legal Counsel, Bili A. Odum.

According to the disclosure, the shares were acquired at a price of N34.30 each, between May 22 and 23, 2025, under the identification code NGUBA000001.

Prior to this transaction, Heirs Holdings already held a dominant position in UBA as the only shareholder with more than a 5 per cent equity interest—owning 1,814,003,900 shares or 5.30 per cent of the bank’s total share capital.

With the latest acquisition, Heirs Holdings now controls 1,859,037,944 shares in UBA, pushing its total equity stake to 5.43 per cent. The move further consolidates the firm’s position as the largest single shareholder in the pan-African financial institution.

Market activity surged in the wake of the announcement, with UBA recording an unusually high trading volume—60.7 million shares were traded on May 22, followed by 45.1 million on May 23. Investor sentiment remained upbeat, with the bank’s stock price rising by over 3 per cent to close at N34.45 on May 23.

This strategic share accumulation comes on the heels of UBA’s strong financial performance in the first quarter of 2025.

The bank posted a pre-tax profit of N204.2 billion, marking a 30.65 per cent increase from the N156.3 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

The robust earnings were largely fueled by a surge in interest income, which grew by 36.09 per cent year-on-year to N599.8 billion.

The bank also benefited from solid non-interest income streams. Electronic banking income rose by 7.86 per cent to N47.84 billion, while transactional commissions and account maintenance fees added N29.66 billion and N10.39 billion, respectively.

UBA’s balance sheet remained resilient, with customer deposits climbing 4.43 per cent to N22.8 trillion and total assets rising 4.58 per cent to N31.7 trillion in the first quarter of the year.

Heirs Holdings, a family-owned investment conglomerate founded by Elumelu, is focused on advancing African prosperity through strategic investments in high-growth sectors.

As of March 2025, the firm managed an investment portfolio worth N15 trillion ($9.8 billion), spanning industries such as financial services, energy, power, healthcare, technology, real estate, and hospitality.

The latest purchase reaffirms Heirs Holdings’ confidence in UBA’s long-term value and its commitment to deepening its footprint in Africa’s financial sector.

With a 5.43 per cent stake, the company remains the only shareholder with more than 5 per cent ownership in the bank, further positioning itself as a central player in UBA’s growth trajectory.