Access Holdings Plc, on Friday said it has received approvals for its recently concluded Right Issue from its primary regulator- the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the first to do so.
Access HOldings offered a total of 17,772,612,811 Ordinary Shares of 50
Kobo each to existing shareholders at N19.75 per share, raising the target N351,009,103,017.25 in the process.
Investdata News had earlier reported that the offer achieved 105% subscription, following which the excess is to be returned to affected subscribers on January 9, 2025.
This development, the company said in a statement to the Nigerian Exchange Limited by Sunday Ekwochi, the company secretary, has positioned “the company’s flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc as the first bank to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N500bn minimum capital requirements for banks with International Authorisation well ahead of the March 2026 regulatory deadline.
Following this success, Access Bank’s “share capital would increase to
N600bn, N100bn above the regulatory minimum requirement.
“Committed to innovation leadership, the Company is the first CBN licensed and regulated Financial Holding Company to successfully execute a fully digital Rights Issue embracing the power of technology to improve access to equity capital market.”
By leveraging the NGX’s E-offer platform, the statement said Access Holdings “provided its shareholders with a seamless, efficient, and convenient subscriber experience significantly reducing barriers and democratizing participation in the Rights Issue.”
Commenting on the successful offer, chairman of the holding company, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said “the Access brand has always resonated strongly with the local and international capital markets. Since 2004, Access Bank has raised billions of dollars in capital to meet successive CBN recapitalization directives.
“We are pleased that this time we are the first to breast the tape. The success of the Rights Issue demonstrates the resilience of Nigeria’s capital market and reinforces our shareholders confidence in the present value and potential of our company,” he added.
Aig-Imoukhuede acknowledged the invaluable and strong support of the CBN and SEC Nigeria who both played crucial roles in ensuring the integrity and efficacy of the exercise, as well as the valued shareholders, “whose loyalty to the Access brand and vision for over 22 years has been most inspiring and unwavering.”
The chairman assured that going into the new year, the company is “well-positioned to leverage our enhanced capital base to deliver sustainable value for our stakeholders”.
