Access Bank public offer successful

Access Bank Ghana Ltd has raised GH¢29.62 million in its initial public offer (IPO), enough to enable it to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

The public floatation which started and ended on November 24, 2016 had 1,820 applications subscribing for 7.4 million plus shares.

The bank needed to raise a minimum of GH¢21 million to make the offer successful.

However, the Head of Financial Control and Strategy at Access Bank Ghana, Mr Calleb Osei, told the Daily Graphic  the bank had also received commitments from some willing investors who had to satisfy some internal approval processes to enable them to subscribe to the unissued shares (more than 18.59 million shares).

Daily Graphic's checks have revealed that when the commitments are redeemed,  they will boost the subscriptions beyond the targeted GH¢104 million which the IPO envisaged.

A joint statement issued by the Access Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said successful applicants with Central Securities Depository (CSD) accounts would have their shares credited to them by December 22, 2016.

Applicants with CSD accounts will have their letters of allotment mailed to them, with which they are expected to open CSD accounts and deposit their shares before they can trade them.

The offer

Access Bank Ghana Ltd started public floatation of part of its shares through the GSE on October 19, 2016 to last for a month. The bank and its sponsoring brokers, African Alliance Securities Ghana Ltd, extended the offer period from its initial end date of November 11 to November 25, 2016 to allow for more investors, especially institutional investors, to subscribe or make commitments.

The bank issued 26 million shares at GH¢4 per share, which analysts consider a discounted price given the value of the bank which has put up sterling financial and operational performances since it started operations in Ghana in 2009.

The Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana Ltd, Mr Dolapo Ogundimu, said the IPO provided evidence of the bank’s belief in the potential of the Ghanaian economy.

He said the bank was also giving a rare opportunity to Ghanaians and other investors to have a stake in the growing fortunes of the bank.

According to experts close to the bank, all commitments should be received and finalised by the first quarter of next year. The bank is expected to list the issued shares on the GSE on Wednesday, December 21, 2016.