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The Access holding company, which owns Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest lender, said it will also ask existing shareholders to raise 365 billion naira (US$257.93 million) through a rights issue at a meeting set for 19 April.
Nigeria’s Access Holding Company plans to seek a shareholders vote next month for approval to launch a capital raising program of US$1.5 billion via a share sale or bond offering, it said in a notice ahead of the vote.
The holding company, which owns Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest lender, said it will also ask existing shareholders to raise 365 billion naira (US$257.93 million) through a rights issue at a meeting set for April 19.
Shares of Nigerian-based Access Bank Group, which operates across 15 countries, mostly in Africa but including Britain and France, closed at 24 naira on the Nigerian bourse on Wednesday. They hit a high of 30.70 naira in January.
A recapitalization is looming for the banking sector in Africa’s biggest economy and most populous nation after central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso said lenders need to play a bigger role in boosting economic growth.
At a monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday, where the central bank raised rates by 200 basis points to 24.75%, the MPC asked the regulator to quicken action on the recapitalization of banks.
The lenders will also ask for approval to elect as a non-executive director Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, one of its founders, who has retired.
The move comes after the corporation’s chief executive, Herbert Wigwe died in a helicopter crash last month.
Story credit: Asaase Radio
