UBA Plc’s N157.84bn Rights Issue Closes Friday

The bid by United Bank for Africa Plc to raise ₦157.843bn fresh capital through the issuance of 3,156,869,665 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at ₦50.00 per share to existing shareholders via rights issue is scheduled to close on Friday, September 5, 2025.

The offer, which is on the basis of one new ordinary share for every 13 ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, according to the rights circular, will raise UBA Group’s issued and fully paid-up share capital to  44,196,175,305 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

The group has earmarked N61.894bn or 40% of the issue’s ₦154.737bn net proceeds for the expansion of its lending portfolio over the next 12 months, with the balance split into equal halves of ₦46.421bn or 30% each to business network expansion and upgrade, as well as technology and digital transformation within the next four years.

The offer, according to a notice on the Nigerian Exchange Limited platform by Bili Odum, the Group Company Secretary/Legal Counsel, has been duly approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Rights Issue “represents the second tranche under the Bank’s ₦400bn Equity Shelf Programme, which was duly registered with the SEC.”

Offering a background to the latest capital raising effort, chairman of the group, Tony Elumelu, in a letter to shareholders, recalled that “the first equity issuance under the equity programme closed on December 24, 2024, with a N239.4bn rights issue achieved and a 104.8% subscription level, which was subsequently scaled down to a 100% allotment.”

Such strong performance, he believes, reflects significant investor confidence in UBA’s strategy and growth prospects, adding that the fresh capital bid “will enable the bank meet the new minimum capital requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while also supporting its strategic expansion plans and enhancing long-term shareholder value.”

The programme, he added, “is designed to ensure compliance with the new minimum capital requirements stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while also supporting UBA’s strategic expansion objectives and long-term value creation for shareholders.

Market capitalisation at rights issue price is expected to jump from ₦2.051tr to ₦2.209tr (assuming full subscription) at the close of the offer on September 5, 2025.

Whereas, arrangements have been made for shareholders who will not take their rights at all, or in full to trade the balance on the NGX between July 30 and the closing date, ordinary shares not taken up by the closing date of the issue “will be allotted to Shareholders who apply for additional shares on a pro-rata basis, i.e. all subscribers will be allotted an equal proportion of the amount applied for, in line with SEC Rules. Accordingly, the Shareholders who do not accept their allotment in full may have their shareholding in the bank diluted.”