The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a 14-day extension for the combined offer of Fidelity Bank, which was originally set to close on Monday.
This disclosure was made in a market bulletin signed by the Head of the Issuer Regulation Department at the NGX Regulation, Godstime Iwenekhai, on Monday.
He said,” Trading licence holders are hereby notified that Fidelity has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the combined offers by 14 days. Consequently, trading in Fidelity’s rights will now close on Monday, 12 August 2024.”
The Fidelity Bank combined offer allowed current shareholders to subscribe for 3.2 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N9.25kobo per share, while 10 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each were available for subscription through a public offer at N9.75kobo per share through a rights issue.
Meanwhile, the bank’s shareholders have authorized the use of the excess funds from the public offering in the interim. This was one of the six approved resolutions in the virtually arranged Extraordinary General Meeting on Friday.
The chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, provided background information on the resolutions that were discussed during the meeting. He stated that the bank was dedicated to fulfilling the new capital requirement that was set by the Central Bank of Nigeria within the regulatory timeframe.
The resolution proposed for shareholders’ approval at this EGM is to enable an increase in share capital from 22.6 billion to 26.7 billion by creating 8.2 billion additional shares to accommodate potential oversubscription from the Public Offer and Rights Issue subject to regulatory approvals.
“The additional capital to be raised would also allow the bank to take advantage of emerging opportunities and secure long-term profitability and competitive advantage while ensuring increased shareholder value. We have seen a lot of demand for our shares. We think this is the chance to take on additional capital while making it easier for us to execute stage two of our capital-raising strategy. So, we think this is a good thing for us to do at this time”, Chike-Obi noted.
The board of the bank approved the issuance of an extra 8.2 billion ordinary shares, valued at 50 kobo apiece.
