Prime Business AfricaAdeyemi Adeola, the chairman of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, the parent company of Sterling Bank, has increased his stake in the financial institution to curb the impact of the lender’s share dilution on his shareholding.
Prime Business Africa gathered that Adeola increased his stake in Sterling Financial Holdings from 3.3 percent to 23.51 percent after acquiring 10.75 billion shares in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelA breakdown of the shares showed that Adeola increased his direct shareholding by 14,13 million shares from 57.60 million shares, representing a 0.13 percent stake, to 71.73 million shares, representing a 0.14 percent stake.
Also, his indirect shares increased from 1.44 billion shares (3.17 percent stake) to 12.18 billion shares (23.37 percent stake), representing an increase of 10.74 billion shares in his indirect shareholding.
This brings his total shares in Sterling Financial Holdings to 12.25 billion, representing a 23.51 percent stake as of June 30, which was the last time his shareholding status was disclosed, from 1.50 billion shares, representing a 3.3 percent stake, as of March 28.
Analysis showed that the 12.25 billion shares are valued at N66.79 billion as of August 8.
Prime Business Africa notes that if Adeola had not increased his shareholding, his direct stake would have dropped from 0.13 percent to 0.11 percent at the end of June, while his indirect stake would have decreased from 3.17 percent to 2.76 percent within the same period due to the company’s share dilution.
Sterling Financial Holdings had diluted its shareholders’ stakes after listing 6.6 billion shares to its share base, which increased its outstanding shares from 45.45 billion to 52.11 billion on June 17.
Also, Abubakar Suleiman, a Non-Executive Director at Sterling Financial Holdings and the company’s former chief executive officer, was affected as the percentage of his 419,98 million shares dropped from 0.92 percent stake to 0.80 percent.
However, increasing his shares by 160.32 million to 580.31 million in the second quarter raised Suleiman’s stake to 1.11 percent.
Also, the investor bought additional shares of 19.68 million on August 6, increasing his total shareholding to 600 million – and his stake to 1.15 percent – which is valued at N5,01 billion as of August 8.
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Prime Business Africa is a business, economy and policy news platform founded in 2021 by veteran journalist and media scholar, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, after he left The Guardian as Editor.
Dr Mbamalu, who serves as Founder and Publisher, set up Prime Business Africa to deliver sharp, data-driven reporting on Nigeria’s markets, trade, investment, and governance trends for decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders.
He also writes The Bottom Line, a backpage column for Punch Newspaper every Thursday.
Under his leadership, Prime Business Africa combines deep newsroom experience with a focus on accountability journalism, aiming to bridge information gaps between Africa’s private sector and the global economy.
