The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted approval to Consolidated Hallmark Insurance to proceed on a Rights Issue and increase its capital base by N1.05 billion.
In a statement released by the general insurance and special risks underwriter, SEC gave the approval to issue a total of 2,032,500,900 units of 50 kobo each at 52 Kobo per share through a rights issue to existing shareholders.
The offer is expected to run for five weeks and close on April 1, 2020.
All the shareholders of the company, who were listed on the register of members as at the close of business on February 3, 2020, are qualified to take advantage of the offer on the basis of one new share for every existing four units currently being held.
According to the statement, the rights issue was approved by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in November 2019, as one of the various measures to meet the new N10 billion minimum capital base for operators in the general business and special risks category.
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The firm said that its recent capital raising efforts in the last couple of years had been successful due to the belief of shareholders in the intrinsic value of the company. The need for higher working capital and risk retention capacity had led the firm to embark on raising funds through rights issue and private placement in the last two years, both of which were fully subscribed.
Planet Capital Limited serves as the lead issuing house to this offer, with SFS Financial Services Limited and World Financial Services Limited as joint issuing houses, while Meristem Registrars acted as the registrar to the offer, the statement read.
It stated that the Chairman of the company, Mr. Obinna Ekezie, saw the recapitalization as a welcome development that would lead to a more vibrant insurance sector with improved performance and also ensure that the company captured a larger market share and gave better returns to all stakeholders.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, Mr. Eddie Efekoha, said he was confident of a very successful outing based on the enthusiasm from shareholders.
Efekoha, who is also the current president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, said, “We are very confident of having a successful outing because our shareholders believe in us. We have shown a commitment to shareholder value creation and paid dividend time and again.”
