Access Holdings PLC, the parent company of Access Bank (Nig) PLC, has successfully exceeded the ₦500 billion minimum share capital required by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for banks with international operations.
The company achieved this milestone by raising ₦351 billion through a Rights Issue of 17,772,612,811 ordinary shares at ₦19.75 each. The company secretary, Sunday Ekwochi, confirmed that Access Bank has obtained full regulatory approval from both the CBN and the Nigeria Securities Exchange.
This achievement makes Access Bank the first Nigerian bank to meet the CBN’s ₦500 billion recapitalisation benchmark, introduced in March 2024. Nigerian banks have until 31 March 2026 to meet this target or face penalties. Currently, Access Bank is the largest bank in Nigeria by assets.
How Access Bank raised its minimum share capital
Following the CBN’s directive, Access Bank issued new shares to its existing shareholders from 7 June to 28 August 2024, allowing them to buy one new share for every two they already owned.
Chapel Hill Denham, the financial adviser and lead issuing house for the bank’s Rights Issue, reported that the bank’s investors included pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, corporate entities, family offices, foreign portfolio investors, and retail shareholders both in Nigeria and abroad.
Digital platforms like PrimaryOffer by Chapel Hill Denham, Access More, and NGX Invest facilitated subscriptions, with 87% of them made digitally.
The Rights Issue was highly successful, receiving 24,181 applications for 18.82 billion shares worth approximately ₦372 billion, achieving an oversubscription rate of 105.76%.
However, applications for 41,650,447 shares worth ₦823 million were disqualified by the CBN for procedural breaches, leaving 18.8 billion shares worth ₦371 billion valid and processed.
Access Holdings’ chairman, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, commented on the success, “The success of the Rights Issue demonstrates the resilience of Nigeria’s capital market and reinforces our shareholders’ confidence in the current and future potential of our company.”
This milestone by Access Bank is expected to encourage other banks like Zenith and Guaranteed Trust to reach their capital targets, with hopes high that more Nigerian banks will meet their CBN-imposed capital requirements by 2025.