Shareholders Approve Union Bank’s N50bn Rights Issue

• Shareholders Approve Union Bank’s N50bn Rights Issue

The shareholders of Union Bank Nigeria Plc have endorsed five resolutions authorising the Board of Directors of the bank to raise up to N50bn through rights issue.

The shareholders gave their approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the bank held in Lagos on Wednesday.

In order to accommodate the new shares, the shareholders approved the increase of authorised capital of the bank from N9.5bn (made up of 19 billion ordinary shares) of 50 kobo each to N17.5bn (made up of 35 billion ordinary shares) of 50 kobo each by the creation of additional 16 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo, each ranking equally with the existing shares of the bank.

Consequently, the memorandum and articles of association of the bank will be amended to reflect the increase in the authorised share capital to N17.5bn.

Commenting on the development, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa, said, “Obtaining shareholders’ approval for our capital increase is a necessary step bringing us closer to the rights issue. Incremental capital will further strengthen Union Bank’s near-term positioning and enable us to realise our long-term growth aspirations.”

“We view the right issue approval as a strong sign of shareholders’ support for the bank’s growth strategy and our plans to scale up operations and strengthen our position in readiness for uptake when the macroeconomic direction changes,” he added.

Amending the bank’s memorandum of association and the articles of association in order to authorise an increase in the bank’s share capital required the approval of at least a three-quarter of votes of those present at the EGM.

The issue was supported by shareholders, representing 99.6 per cent of the votes.