Guaranty Trust Bank Plc on Thursday said it has obtained the approval-in-principle of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commence the formal process of the re-organisation of the bank to a financial holding company.
The financial holding company will be regulated by the CBN as another financial institution and listed on the official list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange (the LSE).
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The bank will be also delisted from NSE and the LSE, and re registered as a private limited liability company.
The bank said it has also obtained the “No-objection” of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the proposed scheme.
Under the restructuring, it is proposed that the issued shares in the Bank be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for the shares in a financial holding company.
The Bank’s existing Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) are also proposed to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for new GDRs to be issued by the financial holding company.
The Board of Directors of GTBank expects that the financial holding company will have greater strategic flexibility to adapt to future business opportunities as well as market and regulatory changes than is currently the case.
Subject to the approval of the Scheme by the Bank’s shareholders, the relevant regulatory authorities and the Federal High Court of Nigeria, the holding company will have an organisational structure similar to that used by a significant number of major financial institutions globally.
