Recapitalisation: Wema Bank opens N150bn rights issue

Wema Bank has announced the commencement of its capital raising exercise on April 14, 2025, with a N150bn rights issue.

According to a corporate disclosure filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Friday, the bank is undertaking a rights issue of 14,286,785,417 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each based on two new ordinary shares for every three ordinary shares at N10.45 per share.

Earlier this year, Wema Bank said that it would be raising capital through a combination of a rights issue and a special placement exercise to raise N200bn in fresh capital.

The statement read, “This is a key step that will consolidate the Bank’s vision of becoming a Systematically Important Bank and creating value for our esteemed shareholders. Our consistent growth in key performance indicators and market share reflects the success of our strategic initiatives and the trust our shareholders have shown us.

“Upon conclusion of this rights issue, the board will ensure that the bank remains well-positioned to

seize new opportunities in the evolving Nigerian Banking landscape particularly by increasing lending to the Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprise, retail, commercial and corporate sectors respectively.”

The bank added that it will be using part of the proceeds to “Improve our IT infrastructure and strengthen digital platform- ALAT, which has facilitated our market penetration in great measures while also creating access to financial services for the young and tech-savvy generation in Nigeria.”

Eligible for this offer are shareholders whose names are in the Register of Members as of March 5, 2025.

The issuing houses for the offer include Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited, GTI Capital Limited, Qualinvest Capital Limited, and Raddix Capital.