CEO, Stanbic IBTC, Mrs. Sola David-Borha
By Goddy Egene
Stanbic IBTC Bank has assured its shareholders that their stake bank will not be affected by the proposed Holding Company (HoldCo) which it intends to adopt.
Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, gave the assurance during a meeting with stockbrokers in Lagos yesterday. According to her, the clarification became necessary in order to allay concerns of shareholders who may be worried about the potential impact of the restructuring on their shareholding.
She explained: “The proposed restructuring will result in no adverse changes to the rights and ownership of existing shareholders of Stanbic IBTC. I wish to state categorically that the value of your investment will not be adversely affected by the change in legal structure. For example if a shareholder owns one per cent of the bank he will own 1 per cent of the new holding company.
“The number of shares held by a shareholder will however change as four out of every five shares will be cancelled. The shareholder will be paid 50 kobo for each share cancelled and the remaining share will be converted to a share in the holding company.”
Continuing, David-Borha said that the proposed share cancellation means that excess capital would be returned to shareholders, saying that the share capital of the bank will be reduced by a total of N7.5 billion as a result of cancellation of 15 billion out of the current 18.75 billion ordinary shares.
The holding company is expected to have 10 billion issued and fully paid up shares of 50 kobo. Shareholders of the bank will become shareholders of Stanbic IBTC Holdings with the same proportionate ownership, save for adjustments for fractional shares, which will be converted to cash. Subsequently, Stanbic IBTC Bank will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC and will apply to the CBN for a commercial banking license.
The new structure will be proposed to shareholders at a court-ordered meeting slated for Abuja on August 9. The holding company is in compliance with a Central Bank of Nigeria stipulation which requires banks to either divest from non-core banking businesses or adopt a holding structure.