In a major off-market transaction today, July 18, 2025, a total of 1,140,866,892 units of Fidelity Bank Plc shares were executed in nine negotiated deals, drawing attention across the capital market, as an official filing from the NGX is yet to be made.
Market sources revealed that Apel Asset Management Ltd acted as the seller, while CardinalStone Securities Ltd and Apel Asset Management Ltd were listed as buyers in the transaction.
While no official details have been released, the sheer volume of the trade has raised speculation about possible strategic moves or ownership re-alignment in the tier-2 banking firm.
The off-market deal follows closely another major transaction involving FBN Holdings Plc (FirstHoldco), in which over 10.4 billion shares valued at N323 billion were exchanged in a negotiated cross-deal earlier this week.
Prior, Fidelity Bank has been dominant in trading activity on the Nigerian Exchange. Over the past three months from April 11 to July 17, 2025, Fidelity Bank has emerged as the most traded stock on the NGX, recording 4.01 billion shares traded in 41,535 deals valued at N77.8 billion.
Despite the sizable off-market activity, the bank’s share price closed at N21.10 per share today, representing a 2.1% drop from the previous day’s close of N21.55.
Nevertheless, the stock maintains a relatively strong performance year-to-date, posting a 20.6% gain so far in 2025.
While market participants now await formal communication from the bank or the NGX, that could shed more light on the implications of today’s transaction.