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.