By Peter Egwuatu

The Nigeria capital market has recorded a major transaction in the Over the Counter, OTC market, with the acquisition of 4.35% stake in NASD Plc by Norrenberger Securities Limited.

According to information made available to Vanguard on Thursday, Norrenberger acquired a strategic 4.35% stake in NASD Plc for N1,305,708,600, executing what market insiders are calling the most significant institutional vote of confidence in the country’s over-the-counter exchange in over a year.

The blockbuster deal saw the GTI affiliated firms comprising GTI Securities Limited, GTI Capital Limited, and GTI Asset Management & Trust Limited divest 21,761,810 shares at N60 per share, a staggering 111.7% premium to NASD’s current trading price of approximately N28.35.

Details of transactions show that

GTI Securities Limited exited 17,190,179 shares worth N1.03billion; GTI Capital Limited: 3,395,432 shares worth 203.7million; and GTI Asset Management & Trust 1,176,199 shares valued at N70.6million.

Meanwhile, a review of NASD’ s performance showed that l when it listed on its own platform in 2013 at N1.50, it looked like just another financial infrastructure play. Fast forward twelve years: the share price hits N29.98 by July 2025, a mind-bending 28.35% compound annual growth rate that turned N100,000 into N1.99 million.

Even in 2025’s turbulent market, NASD equity has surged 93.29% year-to-date, rocketing from N15.51 in January to current levels. In the first half of 2025, H1’25, NASD revenue went up by 308% to N657 million. Q2’ 2025, it recorded profit of N129.3 million against a prior year losses, a 646% turnaround.Trading income jumped 264% to N1.07 billion, and it paid first-ever cash dividend, translating to 20 kobo per share paid in 2025.This is a stock that has consistently made millionaires while most Nigerian equities have struggled with inflation and currency headwinds.

Under the leadership of Eguarekhide Longe’s, as the Managing Director,/CEO, NASD has transformed from a sleepy OTC platform into a profit-printing machine, even as its broader market capitalisation weathered storms from Aradel Holdings’ high-profile 2024 exit to Nigerian Exchange Limited,NGX.

The acquisition by Norrenberger, an integrated financial services group established in 2017, led by Group MD/CEO Tony Edeh, spanning eight business verticals from securities dealing to private equity to investment banking requires the market to pay attention.

According to market operators, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, said: “

The strategic calculus of

owning 4.35% of Nigeria’s premier OTC exchange isn’t just an equity investment, its positioning at the command center of alternative capital raising. As NASD pivots toward digital securities, tokenization, and Small Medium Enterprise, SME-focused listings, this is not speculative money. Norrenberger, an integrated financial services group spanning securities dealing to investment banking, doesn’t deploy N1.3 billion on a whim”.