GTCO To Become First Nigerian Bank To List On London Bourse, Targets $100m In UK Share Sale

On July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange as the financial group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.  

This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.

The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.  

On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List. It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market. 

In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.  GTCO aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List. The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities. 

According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.

Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion. 

This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses. 

As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met —and exceeded— this threshold.  

The group targets a free float of around 99 percent of GTCO’s issued and to-be-issued share capital immediately after admission of the offered shares.  

The bookbuild has opened following the announcement, with the offer price and number of shares to be disclosed after the book closes.

The final pricing, allocations, and timing will be determined at the discretion of the company and Citigroup, which is acting as the Sole Global Coordinator and Bookrunner.

An accelerated bookbuild is a quick method of raising capital, typically completed within 24 to 48 hours.

It involves offering shares to institutional investors at a discounted price compared to the current market value.

According to the release, shares will be offered to select institutional and qualified investors in the UK, the U.S., and other jurisdictions in accordance with applicable securities laws. 

According to the timeline of the offer, the offering price will be set following the close of the bookbuild on July 3, alongside the release of the offer results.

GTCO plans to publish its prospectus the following day, July 4.   

Admission and the start of trading of the new ordinary shares on the LSE’s main market is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on July 9, with CREST accounts to be credited with depositary interests (DIs) shortly afterward.

Share certificates for applicable investors will also be dispatched no later than the same day. 

As part of its capital market restructuring, GTCO will allow existing GDR holders to exchange their receipts for DIs beginning July 9.

The final date for submitting valid exchange requests, known as the “Delisting Exchange Deadline,” is July 23. 

GTCO’s GDRs began trading on the LSE in 2007 at the rate of 1 GDR to 50 GTCO shares. However, with this move, it winds down the GDR programme and transitions to a full dual listing just like Seplat and Airtel Africa.  

Until the delisting becomes effective, the GDRs will continue to trade freely under the ticker symbol “GTCO”.

Following the admission of its ordinary shares on the LSE, which is scheduled for July 9, the company’s shares will initially trade in U.S. dollars under the symbol “GTHC”.

GTCO has indicated plans to change this ticker to “GTCO” after the GDR delisting is completed, with a separate announcement to follow. 

The group clarified that the move will not affect its domestic listing. Shares will continue to be quoted and traded in Nigerian Naira on the Main Board of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) under the existing symbol “GTCO”. 

Post-admission, the company also expects that its shares will be transferable between the LSE and NGX, subject to meeting specific requirements. 

At the time of filing this report, 12:32 PM WAT, GTCO was trading at a share price of N83.20, reflecting a 4 percent rally during the day.