Financial Services Group, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc), on Friday announced a significant milestone in its growth and expansion trajectory, with the successful admission of its 2.29bn Ordinary Shares to trade on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange.
GTCO Plc, therefore becomes West Africa’s first Financial Services Institution to dual list its Ordinary Shares on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges, subject to certain criteria. It is expected that the listed shares will be transferrable between the two exchanges.
The admission follows the successful pricing of its fully marketed offering on the London bourse to raise a total of $105m in exchange for 2.29bn of new ordinary shares in the company, which was supported by a strong book of high-quality, long-term institutional investors.
Simultaneously, the company also announced plans to cancel the listing of its existing GDRs on the certificates representing certain securities (depositary receipts) category of the Official List of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the admission to trading of GDRs on the London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities.
Building on the momentum of the successful first tranche of its equity capital raise programme in July 2024, which secured ₦209bn, GTCO says it would deploy the proceeds from the Offering to strengthen its capital base, meet recapitalization target, and fund strategic expansion across high-growth markets and priority sectors within and outside Nigeria.
It is expected that admission and unconditional dealing in the shares will become effective on July 9, 2025, stressing that following the cancellation of the GDRs listing, it intends to change the ticker symbol for the Shares from “GTHC” to “GTCO” and will issue a separate announcement in due course to that effect.
Commenting on the LSE Listing, the Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO, Segun Agbaje, described it as “a major milestone—not just for GTCO, but for the future we see for African financial institutions on the global stage.
“We are incredibly proud… and even more honored by the trust placed in us by the investing community. For us, this was not just about raising capital. It was about validating the strength of our franchise, the clarity of our strategy, and the discipline with which we execute,” he stressed.
Agbaje appreciated “everyone who made this possible—our advisors and legal teams, our longstanding shareholders, the regulators both in Nigeria and in the UK, as well as the Nigerian government for creating an environment that supports our bold ambition and vision to be Africa’s leading financial services institution.”
The offering, the group noted, attracted long-term institutional capital, reflecting investor confidence in its fundamentals, governance, and strategic outlook.
It also signals improving market sentiment, buoyed by ongoing economic reforms by the Federal Government and a return to traditional orthodox monetary policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which have gone a long way to stabilising the macroeconomic environment and gradually restoring investor confidence in Nigeria’s long-term prospects, it added.
