Fidelity Bank Plc has announced that its recent offer for 10 billion ordinary shares at N9.75 per share was oversubscribed by 237.92%, attracting 108,046 applications for 23.79 billion shares, totaling N231.97 billion.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to the bank, 107,588 applications for 23.77 billion shares, valued at N231.75 billion, were deemed valid following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Capital Verification Exercise (CVE). No applications were disqualified under the CVE, though 458 applications for 22.76 million shares worth N221.96 million were rejected for not meeting the Offer’s terms. Additionally, 548 applications containing odd lots of 198,320 shares (N1.93 million) were also rejected.
Following shareholder approval on July 26, 2024, Fidelity Bank increased its share capital by an additional 8.2 billion ordinary shares, allowing it to absorb 50% of the oversubscription by allotting an extra 5 billion shares. The final allotment of 23.77 billion shares has been cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with shares set to be credited to allottees’ CSCS accounts by February 13, 2025. Surplus funds will also be refunded by this date.
Rights Issue Sees 137.73% Subscription with Full Allotment
Fidelity Bank also reported a strong response to its Rights Issue of 3.2 billion ordinary shares at N9.25 per share, offered on a 1-for-10 basis to shareholders as of January 5, 2024. The issue was 137.73% subscribed, with a total allotment of 100%.
The bank received 7,559 applications for 4.43 billion shares worth N40.98 billion. Of these, 6,903 applications for 4.41 billion shares (N40.77 billion) met the issue’s requirements. Additionally, 52 applications for 295.99 million shares (N2.74 billion) were received for rights tradeable on NGX.
A total of 183 shareholders partially accepted their provisional allotment of 162.86 million shares, leaving 97.48 million shares (N901.71 million) unclaimed. Meanwhile, 6,668 applicants fully accepted their provisional allotment of 1.47 billion shares (N13.64 billion), and 2,959 applicants requested an additional 2.57 billion shares, ultimately receiving 1.36 billion shares (N12.61 billion), representing a 53.04% allotment level.
No applications were rejected following CBN’s verification, though 656 applications for 23.04 million shares (N213.10 million) were deemed invalid. In total, 1.27 billion shares (N11.71 billion) were fully renounced.
The strong oversubscription of both the public offer and the Rights Issue underscores investor confidence in Fidelity Bank’s growth strategy and financial stability.
