SW8 is now the main investor in Wema Bank. Here is the report from Bloomberg:

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission approved SW8 Investment Ltd. as the main investor in Wema Bank Plc, said Lanre Olori, a spokesman for the regulator.

SW8 will buy 2.7 billion shares in Wema for an undisclosed sum to provide liquidity for the lender, Olori said in a phone interview today from the capital, Abuja.

“There has been heavy transaction volumes on Wema, so it’s proper for us to put the records straight to avoid all kinds of speculations,” Olori said.

As many as 2.35 billion Wema shares changed hands in so- called crossed deals on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in Lagos at 2.85 naira each on April 17 as groups boosted their holdings in a bid to take control of the lender. The average day’s volume prior to that was around 100,000 shares.

In crossed deals, the stocks to be traded aren’t available to all potential buyers. The seller and the buyer come together beforehand to agree to effect the transaction at the best market price of the day. Yesterday, a further 300,156 shares were traded in crossed deals at 2.58 naira a share.

Wema Bank was originally formed by the O’dua Group, which represented the governments of western Nigeria. In the banking consolidation that took place in 2005, it was ruled that no state government could hold more than 10 percent in a bank, whereupon the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered the group to reduce its shareholding in Wema to 10 percent from 40 percent. The former management of the bank warehoused the shares, which are now being sold to the core investor.