Access Holdings, helmed by seasoned banker and executive Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, has gained shareholder approval for a N2.12 trillion ($1.71 billion) capital raising, paving the way for the company’s ambitious global expansion strategy.
The company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) approved a capital raise program with many tranches, currencies, and instruments. The proceeds, which total N1.755 trillion ($1.42 billion) and N365 billion ($295.3 million), would drive the group’s global ambitions and strengthen its ability to meet its 2027 strategic goals.
Access Holdings detailed its future strategy, which will include a consolidation and efficiency phase beginning in the second half of 2024. This is consistent with the group’s five-year plan, which aims to accelerate its long-term objectives.
The company has already made tremendous headway in 2024, landing four important deals, including acquisitions in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as a Nigerian insurance brokerage firm. Additionally, regulatory permission for a new consumer lending subsidiary in Nigeria demonstrates Access Holdings’ commitment to diverse expansion.
At the annual general meeting (AGM), Access Holdings shareholders got updated guarantees about the company’s long-term growth and wealth creation.Chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, together with freshly appointed non-executive directors Olusegun Ogbonnewo and Ojinika Olaghere, addressed the audience.
Following the death of banking titan Herbert Wigwe, Aig-Imoukhuede’s return to the head received broad support. Shareholders recognized his significant influence in the bank’s previous growth trajectory.
The capital raise program received unanimous support, demonstrating investor confidence in Access Holdings’ strategic path. The proceeds from the rights sale will be used to boost working capital and drive organic growth across the group’s banking and non-banking divisions.
In a post-meeting engagement, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede emphasized the group’s commitment to industry recapitalization and sustained shareholder returns. He stressed the need to increase capital buffers amid currency devaluation and market volatility, repeating the CBN’s previous call for recapitalization.
The large rise in Access Holdings’ issued share capital, from N17.77 billion ($14.36 million) to N26.659 billion ($21.55 million), indicates the company’s proactive approach to strengthening its financial position and financing its expansion plans.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, a corporate and philanthropic giant, continues to lead Access Holdings as the company strives to become a global financial force.
Access Holdings’ outstanding 2023 financial performance serves as a springboard for its global ambitions.Group profit increased by 307 percent year on year to a record N619.32 billion ($451.7 million), compared to N152.2 billion ($111 million) in 2022.
This expansion, which occurred under the previous leadership of the late Herbert Wigwe, was driven by the group’s total comprehensive income, which increased to N1.031 trillion ($752 million) from N233.3 billion ($170.17 million) the year before.
