Business Post Contributor
By Tenebe Anthonia
UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC) has become yet another beneficiary of the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s (NSE) commitment to provide continued access to capital even in the face of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, June 2, 2020, the company successfully listed its N16 billion rights issue of 15,961,574,145 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each at N1 per unit on the NSE platform.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, while speaking at the virtual closing gong ceremony to commemorate the listing, commended the firm and those who were parties to the exercise.
“We congratulate the management and team at UACN Property Development Company Plc, as well as the professional parties to the issue for the successful completion of the transaction.
“At the NSE, we prioritize our responsibility to support the development of issuers, dealing member firms and the investing public, and we continue to work assiduously to respond to the needs of our stakeholder at every time.
“We are, therefore, pleased to provide support to UPDC on this successful capital raise, and we remain committed to providing opportunities for trading activities across multiple asset classes – equities, bonds, ETFs,” Mr Onyema said.
On his part, the Group Managing Director of UPDC, Mr Folasope Aiyesimoji, stated that, “I am deeply honoured to virtually sound the closing gong at the NSE today.
“The innovation and forward thinking displayed by The Exchange in harnessing technology to make this possible is truly commendable.
“We at UPDC are excited about the milestone we have achieved today, and we are confident that the funds raised will further strengthen our capital structure and position us for growth.
“We count ourselves fortunate to be listed on the NSE which exposes us to a wide pool of investors and funding options.
“We must also commend the NSE for its efforts in building investor confidence which has made it possible for us to access this capital. We are grateful for the trust reposed in us by investors and we are keen to get on with the invaluable projects this capital will support.”
The exchange has remained focused on leveraging technology and business innovation to sustain full operations during this pandemic.
Since the activation of its Business Continuity Plan, which saw the transition to remote trading and working in March, the NSE has enjoyed seamless operations on the back of electronic platforms such as FIX Protocol, X-NET, and the newly implemented Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The NSE digital closing gong ceremony also attests to the resilience of the NSE’s technology platforms with UPDC being the third company to feature in the series following Sterling Bank and FBNQuest Merchant Bank.
