Herbert Wigwe expands control over Access Bank, acquires more shares

Access Bank Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, has acquired new shares in the financial institution to expand his control over the company.

In the first and second weeks of November, the investment banker paid a visit to the stock market, spending N975.52 million to acquire 122 million shares of Access Bank.

According to a corporate document filed with the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wigwe purchased the shares in three days.

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He first acquired 45 million shares at the cost of N357.75 million on November 3, 2022, then paid N314.02 million to purchase 39.50 million shares on November 4, 2022.

On Tuesday, Wigwe also bought 37.5 million shares worth N303,750,000, bringing the total amount he invested into Access Bank this year to N975.52 million.

The shares of the chief executive increased to 1.63 billion, up from the 1.50 billion he owned as at December 31, 2021, raising his controlling stake to 4.6 per cent, from the 4.2 per cent he held last year.

The value of the total investment, which is N13.11 billion, is below the N14.11 billion Wigwe’s investment was worth in the last days of December 2021.

This is due to the fall in Access Bank’s share, which traded at N8 as on Wednesday, below the N9.30kobo it was valued at late last year.