FBN Holdings will begin a share sale on Monday in which it will offer 5.98 billion ordinary shares to existing shareholders for the opportunity to invest further and expand their holdings in the financial services group.
The details are contained in an offer prospectus seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
The transaction allows shareholders with shares in the company as of October 18 to own one new share for every six they already own at a cost of N25 per unit.
The rights issue will last just over five weeks until December 12, according to the lender.
Nigerian commercial banks are in the race to shore up their capital base on the path to meeting the March 31, 2026 deadline for new minimum capital requirements set by the central bank.
FBN Holdings' top-tier peers such as Access Holdings, GTCO, United Bank for Africa and Zenith, all of which operate internationally and are therefore expected to increase their capital base to at least N500 billion, have completed one form of stock sale or the other.
While some managed to raise capital only through rights issues, others did so through a combination of public offerings and sales of shares to existing shareholders.
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“The primary use of the proceeds raised is to enable the company to recapitalize its banking subsidiaries, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, by injecting fresh capital (i.e. Tier 1 capital) into the banks to shore up their capital adequacy ratios (CAR)”, he stated. the offer document says.
The bank holding company plans to raise N149.6 billion from the deal, which could take its issued shares to approximately N41.9 billion.
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Greenwich Merchant Bank is acting as lead issuer for the offering and fifteen others are acting as joint issuers.
Investors will receive their allocation by January 27 following approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, while the new shares are scheduled to list a week later.
Earlier this year, FBN Holdings sold its commercial banking unit FBN Quest Merchant Bank to Everquest Acquisition LLP, a group comprising Custodian Investments, Aion Investments and Evercorp Industries.