Posted by By WALE ALABI on
For the first time in 30 years, Nigeria's leading financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, will, on Thursday, March 1, 2007 storm the capital market to raise funds.
For the first time in 30 years, Nigeria's leading financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, will, on Thursday, March 1, 2007 storm the capital market to raise funds.
The N54 billion offer, which has already been approved for registration and listing by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is a combination of Rights Issue and Public Offer.
At the completion board meeting of UBA held at the Victoria Crown Plaza, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday, two foremost issuing houses, UBA Global Markets and BGL Securities, were approved to package the offer, which is 1,551,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
The breakdown of the offer shows that UBA is seeking to raise N14,402,400,000.00 by way of Rights Issue and another N39, 459,000,000 from the open market. The Public Offer comprising 1.12 billion shares, representing 73 per cent of the offer of 50 kobo each is being offered at N35.00 per share. The Rights Issue of one for 20 will be at N34.00 per share.
Speaking at the completion board meeting, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said the additional capital being sought by the bank 'will go towards funding the bank's strategic expansion programmes, especially on the (African) continent."
He said that the fresh capital would also be deployed to fund branch expansion and upgrade branch roll out, including planned international branch roll-out in the Francophone zone and West African zone, among others as well as ATM deployment and the automation of the bank's business processes.
In his words, 'we are geared to compete with global industry players in line with our vision."
On the chances of achieving its N54 billion target, Elumelu said he was confident of the success of the offer, saying that 'the track record of the institution as a consistent performer sets it apart."
United Bank for Africa Plc recently became the first Nigerian bank to hit the trillion naira threshold in balance sheet size. The financial institution recently took over the assets and assumed the private sector deposits of Trade Bank (in liquidation), an exercise that pushed its retail network close to 500, the largest in the country.
The UBA offer is expected to open with a theme that supports its claim to a warrant on the African success story.
With a thriving subsidiary in Ghana that boasts of seven branches, an office on the Cayman Islands and being the only sub-Saharan African bank (ex-RSA) with a presence in the United States (New York ), UBA has made some bold strides towards its aspiration to be a truly global African bank delivering value to customers wherever they may be. The bank's flagship offering for Nigerians in the Diaspora, called Non-Resident Nigerian (NRN) Banking, offers a bouquet of financial products and services for Nigerians via UBA Plc, accessible wherever they may reside.