FBN Holdings has activated its billion-naira takeover bid for minority shareholdings in Oasis Insurance Plc.
FBN Holdings is making the takeover bid through FBN Life Assurance Limited, an insurance subsidiary of FBN Holdings.
Under the plan, FBN Assurance is making a mandatory takeover of 1.87 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo of Oasis Insurance currently held by minority shareholders.
A declaratory report on the takeover obtained yesterday by The Nationindicated that acceptance list will now open on July 7 and close on July 28, 2014. The qualification date for the offer was July 1, 2014 as a result of the T+3 trading cycle at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to the report, shareholders of Oasis Insurance Plc whose names appeared on the register of members of Oasis maintained by First Registrars on 31 December, 2013 and are eligible to participate in the offer should indicate by filling the necessary documents.
Such shareholders who wish to tender some or all of the ordinary shares registered in their name would have to complete the acceptance form, together with valid share certificate, which should be stamped and signed by their stockbrokers and then submitted to First Registrars, not later than 4pm on July 7, 2014.
However, qualified shareholders who hold their shares in Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) and who wish to participate in the offer should complete the acceptance form contained in the take-over bid document in accordance with the instructions printed thereon. The completed acceptance form, which should be stamped and signed by their stockbrokers with their statement of CSCS account, should be submitted to First Registrars, not later than 4pm on July 28, 2014
FBN Holdings, through FBN Assurance, had acquired the majority equity stake in Oasis Insurance. It had acquired about 4.63 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each of Oasis Insurance from the previous core investors-Oasis Group Limited and MetroWest Investments Limited.
The sale transferred the majority 71.2 per cent equity stake in Oasis Insurance to FBN Life Assurance. The acquisition was effected through the execution of a share sale and purchase agreement between the parties following receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals from the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Oasis is quoted on the NSE.
With the acquisition of 71.2 per cent, FBN Life was required to make a mandatory take-over bid to the remaining shareholders of Oasis insurance in line with section 131 of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) and Rule 445 of SEC’s Rules and Regulations. The takeover bid could however make Oasis Insurance, a publicly quoted insurance firm, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group.
The acquisition would enable the FBN Holdings to deepen its insurance business as FBN Life seeks to harness Oasis Insurance’s relative strengths, thereby creating synergies for the development of the insurance business.
Oasis Insurance is expected to leverage FBN Holdings’ wide network, including the international spread of its flagship-First Bank of Nigeria Limited, to expand its coverage of the Nigerian general insurance market through cross-selling of products on First Bank’s network
