Guaranty Trust Holding
Company Plc (GTCO Plc), Africa’s leading and most profitable Financial Services
Group, has recorded a significant milestone in its growth and expansion journey
with the successful admission of its Ordinary Shares to the Equity Shares
(International Commercial Companies Secondary Listing) category of the Official
List of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and to trading on the main market
for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange.
This historic achievement makes GTCO Plc, the 1st
Financial Services Institution in West Africa to dual list its Ordinary Shares
on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges, and subject to certain
criteria, it is expected that the Shares will be transferrable between the two
exchanges.
The admission follows the successful pricing of
its fully marketed offering (The Offering) on the London Stock Exchange to
raise gross proceeds of $105million in exchange for 2.29 billion of new
ordinary shares in the company, which was supported by a strong book of
high-quality, long-term institutional investors.
Concurrent with
the Offering, the Company also gave notice of its intention to cancel the
listing of its existing GDRs on the certificates representing certain
securities (depositary receipts) category of the Official List of the United
Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the admission to trading of
GDRs on the London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities.
Building on the momentum of the successful first
tranche of its equity capital raise programme in July 2024, which secured ₦209
billion, GTCO will deploy the proceeds from the Offering to strengthen its
capital base, meet its recapitalization target, and fund strategic expansion
across high-growth markets and priority sectors within and outside Nigeria.
It is expected
that Admission and unconditional dealing in the Shares will become effective on
or before 8.00 a.m. (UK time) on 9 July 2025 under the ticker “GTHC”. Following
the cancellation of the GDRs listing, the Company intends to change the ticker symbol
for the Shares from “GTHC” to “GTCO” and will issue a separate announcement in
due course to that effect.
Commenting on the LSE Listing, the Group Chief
Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje,
said: “Today marks a major milestone—not just for GTCO, but for the future we
see for African financial institutions on the global stage. We are incredibly
proud to be the 1st Financial Services Institution in West Africa to
list our ordinary shares on London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed
securities, and even more honored by the trust placed in us by the investing
community. For us, this was not just about raising capital. It was about
validating the strength of our franchise, the clarity of our strategy, and the
discipline with which we execute.”
He further said; “I would like to thank everyone
who made this possible—our advisors and legal teams, our longstanding
shareholders, the regulators both in Nigeria and in the UK, as well as the
Nigerian government for creating an environment that supports our bold ambition
and vision to be Africa’s leading financial services institution.”
GTCO’s fully marketed offering attracted
long-term institutional capital, reflecting investor confidence in the Group’s
fundamentals, governance, and strategic outlook. It also signals improving
market sentiment, buoyed by ongoing economic reforms by the Federal Government
and a return to traditional orthodox monetary policy by the Central Bank of
Nigeria, which have gone a long way to stabilising the macroeconomic
environment and gradually restoring investor confidence in Nigeria’s long-term
prospects.
No comments:
Post a Comment