Regency Alliance Insurance Plc said it will hold its 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos on July 6th, 2020. The time is 11 am, and shareholders are advised to elect proxies to represent them so as to minimise the number of attendees, amid the virus scare.
Meanwhile, the main business that will be discussed during the AGM is the company’s bid to raise capital in order to increase its share capital from N6 billion to N11 billion. According to a statement that was signed by the Company Secretary, Anu Shobo, this will be done through various means, including the issuance of 10 billion additional ordinary shares of N0.50 each.
During the AGM, shareholders would also be authorising the company’s directors to raise additional capital through a special placement, public offer, rights issue, or a combination of all three funding options. These funding bids could be conducted either within the country or outside of the country.
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“To authorise the increase of the authorised share capital of the Company from N6,000,000,000.00 to N11,000,000,000.00 by the creation of 10,000,000,000 additional ordinary shares of 50kobo each ranking pari-passu in all respect with the existing shares in the Company’s equity.
“To authorise the Directors to raise additional capital for the Company up to the amount of the authorised share capital by way of special placement, public offer with or without a preferential allotment or rights issue or a combination of any of them within Nigeria or internationally and upon such terms and conditions that the Directors may deem fit in the interest of the Company subject to Regulatory compliance and approval,” the statement said in parts.
Also during the meeting, shareholders would be voting to grant power to the company’s directors to be able to allot additional shares, in the event that the company’s proposed public offer or rights issue is oversubscribed by investors, thereby raising excess capital. Such a move would, however, be subject to the necessary regulatory approval, the statement said.
It should be recalled that earlier this month, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) extended (till September next year) the deadline for the insurance companies in the country to recapitalise.
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NAICOM is requiring life insurance firms to meet a minimum paid-up capital of N8.0 billion, up from their previous paid-up capital of N2.0 billion. In the same vein, general insurance companies are required to raise their minimum paid-up capital to N10.0 billion from N3.0 billion.
Also, the regulatory capital for composite insurance was raised to N18.0 billion from N5.0 billion previously while reinsurance businesses are now required to have a minimum capital of N20.0 billion from a previous N10.0 billion.
The recapitalisation programme was first announced in May 2019 and has since been extended more than twice. This is because many of the insurance companies have been struggling to meet these requirements. At the moment, only the top insurance firms have been able to meet the capital requirements. The deadline extension is, therefore, expected to help them comply.