Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The mid-level financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc, is looking to source fresh funds from investors, especially new ones, to possibly use to expand its operations in Nigeria and abroad.
Recall that recently, the lender announced the acquisition of Union Bank UK as part of its efforts to establish its footprint in the United Kingdom, where it believes it can penetrate.
The commercial bank also intends to move up the ladder and become a tier-one banking institution in Nigeria and rub shoulders with the big boys of the sector like GTCO, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, FBN Holdings and UBA.
To achieve these goals, the company is seeking fresh capital from potential investors through the sale of some shares via a private placement.
A private placement is the sale of securities, including stocks, to investors directly and not through the open market like the stock exchange. The shares are usually sold at rates different from the market price and it is an avenue for raising funds.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday, Fidelity Bank disclosed that it would hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at Four Points by Sheraton in Lagos by 10 am to seek approval of shareholders for the exercise.
The firm noted that it wants to sell via private placement the 3,037,414,308 unissued ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each in the share capital of the company to interested investors and needs the authorisation to do this.
It specifically said the meeting is to consider that “in furtherance of the provisions of Section 124 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 and the Companies Regulations 2021, and pursuant to Paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Articles of Association of the company, the Board of Directors of the company be and is hereby authorised to issue, by way of a private placement, the 3,037,414,308 unissued ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each in the share capital of the company (being not more than 30% of the company’s existing issued shares and paid up capital) to potential investors” and would “rank pari-passu with the company’s existing issued shares.”
