LAGOS— ZENITH Bank Plc shareholders yesterday approved the floating of N15 billion Initial Public Offer (IPO) following a Completion Board Meeting in Lagos. The bank is seeking over N15 billion by way of offer for subscription which is the largest IPO in the history of the Nigerian Capital Market.
Details of the offer show that a total of 800 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each would be offered to the public at N10.90 per share. However, there is a provision for a supplementary allotment of up to 1,070,520,000 additional shares in the event of over subscription, subject to the approval of the bank’s Board of Directors, The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The NSE). This implies that the IPO could yield record gross proceeds of well over N15 billion..
Approvals for the registration and listing of Zenith Bank’s post-offer paid-up share capital have already been obtained from SEC and the NSE. The Offer, which is being handled by Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (IBTC) and FBN (Merchant Bankers) Limited (FBNMB) is expected to open on Thursday, July 1, 2004.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, urged prospective shareholders to subscribe to the shares being offered to the general public as they were bound to reap huge gains from the offer.
According to him, “Zenith Bank is currently the third most profitable bank in Nigeria and the fourth largest bank in terms of total assets and contingents. It has consistently maintained a Triple A (Aaa) rating by Agusto & Co. since 1999. The bank had total assets of N112.53 billion and Shareholders’ Funds of N12.88 billion as at 30 June 2003, representing a 22 per cent and 35 per cent increase respectively over the previous year. The bank recorded a profit before tax of N5.44 billion and a profit after tax of N4.42 billion for the year ended 30 June 2003, representing a 36 per cent and 22 per cent increase over the previous year.”
Ovia further said the IPO was undertaken to broaden and increase its market share, stressing that the proceeds of the IPO would finance the bank’s strategic business development and expansion of its network of branches to make quality banking more accessible to existing and potential clients.
