Access Holdings Announces 105.76% Oversubscription of Rights Issue, Discloses Proceeds

Access Holdings has announced the successful completion of its rights issue in July 2024, reporting an oversubscription rate of 105.76%, with 24,181 applications received.

The rights issue, launched on July 8, 2024, involved the offer of 17.77 billion Ordinary Shares at N19.75 each. The offer, which was open from July 8 to August 23, 2024, was made available to shareholders who held shares as of June 7, allowing them to purchase one new share for every two shares they owned.

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Access Holdings revealed that 24,181 applications were received for a total of 18.82 billion Ordinary Shares, amounting to approximately N371.77 billion, reflecting the 105.76% oversubscription. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) validated 24,100 applications for a total of 18.79 billion shares valued at about N371.24 billion.

However, five applications for 41,650,447 shares were disqualified due to discrepancies in the Capital Verification Report, resulting in the acceptance of 18.75 billion shares valued at N370.41 billion. Additionally, 81 applications for 26,775,816 shares, worth approximately N528.82 million, were invalidated. In total, 68,426,263 shares, worth about N1.35 billion, were rejected due to compliance issues or disqualification.

Notably, 21,141 shareholders accepted their full provisional allotment of 5.59 billion shares, worth N110.45 billion. Among these, 10,889 shareholders applied for additional 10.62 billion shares, of which 9.64 billion shares were fully allocated, valued at N190.48 billion. Additionally, 2,324 shareholders partially accepted their allotments, totaling 395,647,981 shares worth N7.81 billion. On the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), 635 subscribers purchased 2.13 billion shares for N42.26 billion.

In total, 17,772,612,811 shares were allotted, which include:

Accepted shares: 5,988,165,688 shares from 23,465 applications, valued at N118.27 billion.

Shares through traded rights: 2,139,953,954 shares from 635 applications, valued at N42.26 billion.

Additional fully renounced shares: 9,644,493,169 shares from 10,889 applications, valued at N190.48 billion.

The rights issue was oversubscribed at 105.76%.

Background

On July 7, 2024, Access Holdings Plc announced that it had received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a rights issue of 17.77 billion ordinary shares, priced at N19.75 each. The offer allowed shareholders to acquire one new share for every two shares held as of June 7, 2024.

During the Signing Ceremony, Bolaji Agbede, the Acting Managing Director/CEO of Access Holdings Plc, stated, “The Rights Issue is a key component of our 2023-2027 strategic plan. The capital raised will enable us to seize new opportunities and deliver value to our shareholders.”

Due to nationwide protests disrupting business activities in Nigeria, the closing date for the rights issue was extended from August 14 to August 23, 2024, following SEC approval. This extension ensured that all interested shareholders had a fair chance to participate.