Minority shareholders of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) have expressed their delight with Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB), the bank’s new owners, announcing a Mandatory Takeover Offer (MTO) with a premium of $7 per share.
The shareholders also praised Titan Trust Bank for its openness and confidence in presenting the identical MTO to Union Bank’s minority and majority shareholders, a rare action in Nigeria’s banking sector.
This development has strengthened TTB’s commitment to safeguarding Nigerians and their bank deposits while generating money for its shareholders.
Recall that TTB shocked the financial sector when it announced its acquisition of 93.41% of the shares in the 105-year-old UBN in just three years of its founding. TTB was on an expansionary course with the aim of building a stronger brand capable of taking on a larger market share of a continent striving for financial inclusion.
With an off-market deal worth N191 billion, the deal—which is regarded as one of the biggest acquisition deals in Nigeria’s banking industry—was formalized earlier this year when Tropical General Investments Limited (TGI Group), the parent company of TTB, became the majority shareholder and core investor in UBN.
However, investors, stockholders, and industry observers have praised the agreement, describing it as a win-win situation for Nigerians and the country’s economy.
The mandatory offer, which must be made in accordance with the rules of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), enables Titan Trust to acquire the remaining 6.59 percent shareholding, or 1,927,532,558 (one billion, nine hundred and twenty-seven million, five hundred and thirty-two thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight naira) ordinary shares. The tender bid must be priced at $7.00 per share and offered at a premium over the market price, which was $5.90 per share on the
According to the bank, $7.00 per share was “the price at which the block trade was conducted.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given Titan Trust permission to start the MTO.
Some of the UBN shareholders who spoke to our reporter following the announcement of the shares offer expressed their excitement and thanked the bank’s new owners and management for the offer.
Following the emergence of a new leadership team that the group has put together to make the lender a bank of first choice for Nigerians in the very near future, the retail lender is starting to gain a lot of stability and the public’s confidence just a few months after the TGI Group acquired Union Bank.
Business analysts are confident that, even as the lenders continue with their integration process, the fresh initiatives and innovations being infused into UBN by TTB will soon pay off.
To fulfill the unmet demands of the retail mass market, SMEs, and corporates, TTB was founded to take advantage of the holes in the banking industry that had been identified.
