The Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) on Friday announced the suspension of trading in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc ahead of the listing of the lender’s holding company on the exchange.
The Head of NGX Group listings regulation department, Godstime Iwenekhai, through a bulletin, stated that suspension of trading in the bank’s shares was to prepare for the delisting of the bank from the daily trading and listing of the holding company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc on NGX.
He stated: “Trading License Holders and the investing public are hereby notified that trading in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (the Bank) was suspended Friday, 18 June 2021.
“The suspension is necessary to prevent trading in the shares of the Bank in preparation for the eventual delisting of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc from the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and listing of the Holding Company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc on NGX.”
It would be recalled that last November, GTB announced that it had obtained the approval-in-principle of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commence the formal process of transforming to a financial holding company.
The lender stated that the restructuring process would be implemented by an arrangement between it and its shareholders in line with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAC).
Also, GTB had also obtained the “no-objection” of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the restructuring plan.
Under the restructuring, it is proposed that the issued shares of the bank will be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for the shares in a financial holding company while the lender’s existing global depository receipts (GDRs) are also proposed to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for new GDRs to be issued by the financial holding company.
Also, GTB would be delisted from the NGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and re-registered as a private limited liability company under the relevant provisions of corporate legislation.
Meanwhile, two other lenders, Access Bank and Sterling Bank, had also indicated their plans to transform into holding companies in furtherance of their drives towards improving their shares in the rapidly growing Nigeria’s financial market.
