The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have endorsed Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc’s first tranche of its equity capital offer, from which the lender successfully raised N209.41 billion.
The bank in a statement on Monday disclosed that the offer majorly attracted interest from domestic retail investors, culminating in 130,617 valid applications for 4,705,800,290 ordinary shares, which were fully allotted to successful applicants.
Speaking on the success recorded in the first phase of the recapitalisation exercise, the bank’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje, expressed his gratitude to the investors and promised them that their investments would be managed for good returns to them.
The banker said: “We extend our sincere appreciation to our new and existing shareholders, as well as the regulatory authorities, for their unwavering support during this initial phase of our equity capital raise.
“The strong participation and successful capital verification exercise and allotment process reaffirm the confidence investors have in our fundamentals and execution capabilities.
“This sets a solid foundation for accelerating our strategic roadmap, which aims to pivot the Group for transformational growth and unlock greater value across the Group’s Banking and Non-Banking businesses”, Agbaje added.
The bank’s management maintained that “building on this successful first phase, the Group will commence the second phase of its recapitalisation plan in 2025, which is strategically positioned to attract significant foreign institutional investments, reinforcing its reputation as a ‘Truly International’ financial services brand,” the company added.
Based on the information provided by the management to the regulatory institutions on the exercise, the proceeds from the recapitalization will be partly used to recapitalise the Group’s flagship subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, thereby strongly positioning it to fulfil regulatory requirements and strengthening its position as one of the leading banks in the country.
