United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has successfully crossed a major regulatory milestone, raising a substantial N157.84 billion from its second rights issue. This capital injection has propelled the bank's capital base firmly above the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) N500 billion minimum capital threshold for commercial banks with international authorisation.
Strong Investor Appetite and Final Allotment
The rights issue, which closed for acceptance on September 19, witnessed impressive demand from the market. It recorded a 113 per cent subscription rate, attracting 6,404 valid applications for 3.57 billion ordinary shares worth N178.3 billion. Following a strategic scale-down, the final allotment was settled at a full 100 per cent subscription level.
The offer was structured to issue 3,156,869,665 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N50 per share. It was offered on the basis of one new share for every 13 existing shares held by shareholders as of the qualification date of July 16, 2025.
Breakdown of Shareholder Participation
A detailed analysis of the acceptances reveals robust engagement across the shareholder spectrum:
- Full Acceptances: 6,293 applications for 453,578,211 shares valued at N45.6 billion.
- Partial Acceptances: 106 applications for 135,274,777 shares worth N6.76 billion.
A notable aspect of the exercise was the high volume of applications for additional shares, which totalled 2,977,218,174 shares valued at N148.86 billion. After accommodating a shareholder's request to scale down its application by 409,211,959 shares (N20.46 billion), a final allotment of 2,568,006,215 additional shares worth N128.4 billion was made.
Institutional Backing and Final Steps
The exercise underscored the strong support from major investors. The largest shareholder bracket, comprising holders of 100 million shares and above, accounted for 78.46 per cent of the total allotment. This group received 2,476,961,309 shares valued at N123.85 billion, highlighting the confidence of institutional and core investors in UBA's recapitalisation strategy and future prospects.
The bank's registrars, PAC Registrars and Investor Services Limited, are tasked with crediting the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) accounts of successful allottees on or before January 16. Surplus subscription monies are to be returned by January 13. In line with the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) dematerialisation directive, shareholders without CSCS accounts will have their shares credited using a Registrar Identification Number (RIN).
The successful completion of this capital raise solidly positions UBA within the CBN's new regulatory capital framework. The oversubscription is a clear market endorsement of the bank's financial strength and its standing as a leading pan-African financial institution.
