Top Nigeria Lender Plans $246 Million Share Sale to Boost GTBank
Guaranty Trust Holding Co. plans to raise $246.2 million in a share sale to inject more capital into its Nigerian unit to meet new central bank rules.
The country’s biggest lender by market value will offer 9 billion shares at 44.50 naira each from Monday through Aug. 12, it said in a statement on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s website.
About 94% of the estimated net proceeds of 392.49 billion naira will go toward recapitalizing GTBank over the next six months, while the rest are for growth and expansion through acquisitions in the pension-fund administration and asset-management fields over two years, it said.
In March, the West African nation’s central bank increased the minimum capital requirements for lenders 10-fold as it sought to bolster the defenses of an industry facing a steep naira devaluation, high inflation and a weak economy.
