Union Bank: Titan Trust N7 Per Share MTO Excites Minority Shareholders

Minority shareholders of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) have expressed satisfaction with the announcement of a N7 per share premium Mandatory Takeover Offer (MTO) by Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB), the new owners of UBN.

The shareholders also commended Titan Trust Bank’s transparency and trust in offering the same MTO to both the minority and majority holders of Union Bank, a gesture not common in the Nigerian banking industry. This development has further consolidated TTB’s stance to protect Nigerians and their investments in the bank and create wealth for its shareholders.

Recall that TTB, in pursuit of an expansionary course with the objective of building a stronger brand capable of taking on a larger market share of a continent striving for financial inclusion, took the financial industry by surprise after it announced its acquisition of 93.41% holding in 105-year-old UBN in barely three years of its establishment. The deal, regarded as one of the largest acquisition deals in the history of Nigeria’s banking industry, with an off-market deal worth N191 billion, was however, formalized earlier this year with Tropical General Investments Limited (TGI Group), the parent company of TTB, becoming majority shareholder and core investor in UBN. The deal has, however, received applause from shareholders, investors and industry watchers who have described it as a win-win for Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.

As required by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) regulations, the mandatory offer allows Titan Trust to purchase the remaining 6.59 per cent shareholding equivalent to N1, 927, 532, 558 (one billion, nine hundred and twenty-seven million, five hundred and thirty-two thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight) ordinary shares, a tender bid to be priced at N7.00 per share and offered at a premium above the market price, standing at N5.9 per share on Monday, the day the offer was announced.

The N7.00 per share was “the price at which the block trade was executed,” the bank said.

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Titan Trust has received the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s approval to launch the MTO.

Since the announcement of the shares offer, some of the shareholders of UBN who spoke to our correspondent have expressed their excitement and commended the new owners and management of the bank for the offer.

Within a few months of the acquisition of Union Bank by the TGI Group, the retail lender is beginning to gain a lot of stability and also earn confidence of the public following the emergence of a new leadership team which the group has assembled to make the lender a bank of first choice for Nigerians in the very near future.

Business analysts are optimistic that the new measures and innovations being injected in UBN by TTB will pay off soon even as the lenders continue with their integration process.

TTB was established to take advantage of the identified gaps in the banking sector and address the unmet needs of the retail mass market, SMEs and corporates.