Minority shareholders of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) have expressed satisfaction with the announcement of a N7 per share premium Mandatory Takeover Offer (MTO) by Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB), the new owners of UBN.
The shareholders also commended Titan Trust Bank’s
transparency and trust in offering the same MTO to both the minority and
majority holders of Union Bank, a gesture not common in the Nigerian banking
industry. This development has further consolidated TTB’s stance to protect
Nigerians and their investments in the bank and create wealth for its
shareholders.
Recall that TTB, in pursuit of an expansionary course with
the objective of building a stronger brand capable of taking on a larger market
share of a continent striving for financial inclusion, took the financial
industry by surprise after it announced its acquisition of 93.41% holding in
105-year-old UBN in barely three years of its establishment.
The deal, regarded as one of the largest acquisition deals
in the history of Nigeria’s banking industry, with an off-market deal worth
N191 billion, was however, formalized earlier this year with Tropical General
Investments Limited (TGI Group), the parent company of TTB, becoming majority
shareholder and core investor in UBN.
The deal has, however, received applause from shareholders,
investors and industry watchers who have described it as a win-win for
Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.
As required by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) regulations, the
mandatory offer allows Titan Trust to purchase the remaining 6.59 per cent
shareholding equivalent to N1, 927, 532, 558 (one billion, nine hundred and
twenty-seven million, five hundred and thirty-two thousand, five hundred and
fifty-eight) ordinary shares, a tender bid to be priced at N7.00 per share and
offered at a premium above the market price, standing at N5.9 per share on
Monday, the day the offer was announced.
The N7.00 per share was “the price at which the block trade
was executed,” the bank said.
Titan Trust has received the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC)’s approval to launch the MTO.
Since the announcement of the shares offer, some of the
shareholders of UBN who spoke to our correspondent have expressed their
excitement and commended the new owners and management of the bank for the
offer.
Within a few months of the acquisition of Union Bank by the
TGI Group, the retail lender is beginning to gain a lot of stability and also
earn confidence of the public following the emergence of a new leadership team
which the group has assembled to make the lender a bank of first choice for
Nigerians in the very near future.
Business analysts are optimistic that the new measures and
innovations being injected in UBN by TTB will pay off soon even as the lenders
continue with their integration process.
TTB was established to take advantage of the identified gaps
in the banking sector and address the unmet needs of the retail mass market,
SMEs and corporates.
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