FBN Holdings announces date for start of six billion-unit share sale

FBN Holdings will commence a share sale on Monday through which it will offer 5.98 billion ordinary shares to current shareholders for a chance to invest more and scale up their stakes in the financial services group.

The details are contained in an offer prospectus seen by PREMIUM TIMES Friday.

The transaction allows shareholders with shares in the company as of 18 October ownership of one new share for every six already held at the cost of N25 per unit.

The rights issue will run for a little more than five weeks through 12 December, according to the lender.

Commercial banks across Nigeria are in the race to shore up their capital base on the road to meeting the deadline of 31 March 2026 for new minimum capital requirements as set by the central bank.

FBN Holdings’ top-tier peers like Access Holdings, GTCO, United Bank for Africa and Zenith, all of which operate internationally and so are expected to ramp up their capital base to at least N500 billion, have completed one form of share sale or the other.

While some accomplished their capital raise only through rights issues, others did through a blend of public offers and selling shares to existing shareholders.

“The primary use of proceeds raised is to enable the company to recapitalize its banking subsidiaries, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, by injecting fresh equity (i.e. Tier 1 Capital) into the banks to shore up their Capital Adequacy Ratios (CAR),” the offer document says.

The bank holding company plans to raise N149.6 billion from the deal, which could take its issued shares to about 41.9 billion.

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Greenwich Merchant Bank serves as the leading issuing house for the offer with fifteen others as joint issuing houses.

Investors are to receive their allotment by 27 January following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, while the new shares are planned for listing a week later.

Earlier in the year, FBN Holdings sold its merchant banking unit FBN Quest Merchant Bank to Everquest Acquisition LLP, a group comprising Custodian Investments, Aion Investments and Evercorp Industries.