Stakeholders in the capital market are agog with the listing of the securities of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), making it the first West African bank to dual-list on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges.
The admission followed the successful pricing of its fully marketed offering on LSE to raise gross proceeds of $105 million in exchange for 2.29 billion of new ordinary shares in the company, which was supported by a strong book of high-quality, long-term institutional investors.
The bank also gave notice of its intention to cancel the listing of its existing Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) on the certificates representing certain securities (depositary receipts) category of the Official List of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the admission to trading of GDRs on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.
GTCO will deploy the proceeds from this to strengthen its capital base, meet its recapitalization target, and fund strategic expansion across high-growth markets and priority sectors within and outside Nigeria.
This builds on the momentum of the successful first tranche of its equity capital raise programme in July 2024, from which it secured N209 billion.
Commenting on the listing, the chief executive of GTCO, Mr Segun Agbaje, said the development marked a major milestone—not just for GTCO, but for the future we see for African financial institutions on the global stage.
“We are incredibly proud to be the 1st Financial Services Institution in West Africa to list our ordinary shares on London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities, and even more honored by the trust placed in us by the investing community. For us, this was not just about raising capital. It was about validating the strength of our franchise, the clarity of our strategy, and the discipline with which we execute.
“I would like to thank everyone who made this possible—our advisors and legal teams, our longstanding shareholders, the regulators both in Nigeria and in the UK, as well as the Nigerian government for creating an environment that supports our bold ambition and vision to be Africa’s leading financial services institution,” he stated.