Directors of Access Holdings Plc and their professional advisers yesterday signed off on a N351.01 billion rights issue, paving the way for the offer to open for subscription.
The formal signing ceremony held at the group’s Lagos head office, saw the directors and professional parties signing the offer documents, a ceremony that completed all pre-offer processes.
Access Holdings will be offering 17.77 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to existing shareholders at N19.75 per share. The rights issue was pre-allotted on the basis of one new ordinary share for every two existing ordinary shares held as at Friday, June 7, 2024.
Shareholders of the group had at their annual general meeting in April 2024 unanimously mandated the company to raise $1.5 billion and N365 billion in a multi-tranche, multi-currency and multi-instrument capital raising exercise.
Acting Managing Director, Access Holdings Plc, Bolaji Agbede, yesterday said the rights issue was a significant step in delivering the group’s 2023-2027 strategic plan.
“The additional capital will enable us to maximise emerging opportunities and deliver long-term value to our shareholders,” Agbede said.
She added that the offer was part of the group’s strategy to enhance its working capital requirements, which includes organic growth funding for its banking and non-banking subsidiaries.
Subject to approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the acceptance list for the rights issue is expected to open on Monday, July 8, 2024, and close on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
Chapel Hill Denham is the lead issuing house to the offer while Atlas Registrars Limited will serve as registrars to the exercise. The joint issuing houses are Coronation Merchant Bank, Stanbic IBTC Capital, Vetiva Advisory Services, Greenwich Merchant Bank, FCSL, First Ally Capital, FCMB Capital, Renaissance Capital Africa and Meristem Capital.
Other parties to the offer are Coronation Merchant Bank, Coronation Securities, Chapel Hill Denham Securities Limited, FSDH Capital, Cordros Capital, Cowry Securities, First Integrated Capital Management Ltd, Network Capital Ltd, CSL Stockbrokers Limited, Compass Investment & Securities Ltd, PAC Securities Limited, Dynamic Portfolio, Chartwell Securities Limited, Tiddo Securities Limited, and Futureview Securities Limited.
Chairman, Access Holdings Plc, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, in a media chat with journalists after the annual general meeting, had said the group was focused on two major issues of banking sector recapitalisation and continuous good returns on investment to shareholders.
He said the new banking recapitalisation is a “sensible prudential regulation” necessary to ensure that banks are in good position to withstand dynamics of their business environment.
“I think on the issue of recapitalisation, first of all as a group, Access Holdings wholeheartedly endorses the recapitalisation signal by the CBN.
“Banks, particularly after period of significant devaluation of the domestic currency, volatility in the exchange and interest rates regime are always encouraged to build up the capital buffers to ensure that whatever adverse effect within their balance sheet is a result of these dynamism changes in the environment will not affect their going concern.
“So, we endorsed the policy by CBN and it is good and sensible prudential regulation. It is not the first time CBN has come up with such policy. In 2004, when Access Bank had about N3 billion capital and it was increased to N25 billion.
“Between 2004 and 2007, our team when I was the Chief Executive Officer, our team raised $2 billion common equity capital and therefore, if come 2024, Access Bank, much older, wiser, stronger, larger and significantly respected by the capital market with over 800,000 shareholders, raising $300 milliion in capital is not much a challenge,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.
Underlining the reasons for its diverse capital raising programme, Aig-Imoukhuede said the group believes in ensuing that shareholders of all categories have opportunities to continue with the group in its journey.
He said the group also has a very unique relationship with capital markets in Nigeria and international, thus the focus of its capital raising exercise.
At the meeting, shareholders increased the issued share capital of the company from N17.773 billion of 35.545 billion ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each to N26.659 billion of 53.318 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each by the creation of additional 17.773 billion ordinary shares of 50 Kobo, ranking pari-passu with the existing ordinary shares of the company.
The meeting also approved a resolution empowering the board to establish a capital raising programme of up to $1.5 billion or its equivalent, through the issuance of ordinary shares, preference shares, Alternative Tier 1, convertible and/or non-convertible notes, bonds or any other instruments, whether by way of a public offering, private placement, rights issue, book building process or any other method or combination of methods, in such tranches, series or proportions and at such dates, coupon or interest rates within such maturity periods and upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by the board subject to obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals.
Shareholders mandated the company to raise capital of up to N365 billion by way of a rights issue on such terms and conditions and on such dates as may be determined by the directors, subject to obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.
As part of the capital raising process, the meeting approved that any shares not taken by existing shareholders within the period stipulated under the rights issue may be offered for sale to other interested shareholders of the company on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the directors subject to the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.
