Access Bank to raise GH¢450m on Ghana Stock Exchange
Access Bank Ghana Limited is to raise a total of GH¢450 million on the local bourse through a bond programme and rights issue expected to take place next year.
Proceeds of the capital raising exercises are to help support the bank’s operations and meet the Bank of Ghana’s recapitalisation directive.
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A circular from the bank said Access Bank would be aiming at raising GH¢150 million under the bond programme that will subsequently be listed on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
The remaining GH¢300 million is to be raised through a rights issue and the proceeds will be used “to meet the new minimum capital set by the BoG,” the bank said in a December 4 circular sent to shareholders.
As a result, Access Bank is convening an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 12 at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra, where it hopes to secure shareholders approval to help implement the capital raising exercise.
The shareholders are expected to authorise the bank to, among other things, undertake the two capital raising exercises, list the bond on the GFIM as well as determine the number of shares to be issued under the proposed rights issue, the price per share, allotment and duration of the issue.
They are also expected to authorise the bank to appoint the relevant professionals to guide the exercise, the circular said.
Access Bank Ghana, a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc in Nigeria, listed on the GSE in December 2016, after successfully raising some GH¢29 million through an initial public offer.
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Thanks to the IPO, the bank became the first subsidiary of a Nigeria bank and the 11th bank to have listed on the local bourse.
Its proposed capital raising exercise through the stock exchange is expected to help signal to other listed companies that the bourse is liquid and deep enough to help support their capital appetites.
On the rights issue, it could be one of many by listed banks in need of capital to meet the central bank’s new capital requirement of GH¢400, as the race to meet recapitalise before the December 2018 deadline heats up.