Yemisi Izuora
Access Bank Plc is in progress of selling its shares to existing shareholders by way of right issue which on the floor of Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) after a landmark Facts Behind The offer Presentation being the first this year.
The Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema confirmed that Access Bank recently received shareholders’ approval to raise the sum of $1 billion from both local and international markets and that the approval was in line with the bank’s five-year corporate strategy as well as its capital plan.
He also said that in order to further entrench Access bank as a Tier 1 bank and reflect the strong risk management framework which underpins its lending and growth strategies, Access Bank has commenced sales of shares to existing shareholders by way of rights issue of 7.63 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N6.90, aiming to raise N52.6 billion ($275.10 million) at a ratio of one new share for every three held by existing shareholders.
‘This I believe is why Access Bank is here to give the stock brokerage, analyst and media communities more insights on the rights issue. Also the bank recently completed a successful $400 million seven-year Tier 2 capital issuance, which followed the successful $350 million five-year senior debt issued in 2012’ the D-G said.
Onyema however said that in their filing to the Exchange they indicated that the funds raised from the rights issue would provide Access Bank with additional capacity to further consolidate its leading corporate banking business, and deliver additional capital headroom to support the bank’s increasing market share in the SME and retail segments.
“At the Nigerian Stock Exchange, we are aiming to become the African exchange of choice for African issuers and global investors. This is in-line with our new positioning as the market for entrepreneurial growth. The Capital market, in line with the growth agenda of the current management of the Exchange, has within the last three years, implemented far-reaching transformational policies aimed at diversifying our economic base and achieving sustained, inclusive economic growth.
To further promote and continuously drive to develop a more transparent, liquid, accessible market, with a modern market structure to support the delivery of a wide range of investment products, we have reached advanced stages toward the launch of the NSE Premium Board (aimed at companies with minimum market capitalization of $1bn and high corporate governance standards as measured by our CGRS system); and development of the Growth Board (aimed at supporting high growth potential companies)’ he said.
According to him, we will also sustain active engagement with relevant stakeholders and Capital market operators to accelerate our development of Exchange Traded Derivatives to be launched in 2016. This will further deepen our product and value propositions.