Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) shareholders have approved the plan by the lender's management to restructure into a Holding Company (HoldCo). GTBank has been pushing to expand its business outside core banking to make an inroad into new developing ventures.
According to a report by Nairametrics, GTBank shareholders held a court-ordered meeting held on Friday, where the shareholders approved the HoldCo request and gave permission to have their shares transferred to the HoldCo - which is a major step in the establishment of the HoldCo.
The shareholders will have their 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in the issued and paid-up share capital held in GTBank to Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc; which is the name of the HoldCo. After the complete restructuring, GTBank Holding Company will become the parent company of GTBank (lending venture).
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The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GTBank, Segun Agbaje, is expected to head the HoldCo, while a replacement will be brought in to takeover his role in GTBank.
During GTBank's investor earnings call session on Monday, AllNews gathered that the company has been searching for Agbaje's succession. His replacement will not be coming from outside, as the company is looking inward.
There are six executives at GTBank vying for the MD/CEO position. It was gathered that the competition is between Demola Odeyemi, Bolaji Lawal, Haruna Musa, Miriam Olusanya, and Babajide Okuntola.
GTBank's e-commerce and quick credit businesses are in the spotlight as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued an approval-in-principle to the lender for its plan to become a Holding Company. This comes a month after Sterling Bank obtained theirs in order to branch out of the core banking business.
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The Holding Company status will lead to the restructuring of GTBank, enabling the lender to establish standalone companies that will be under the Holding Company. GTBank's decision to take this path is prompted by the competitive nature of Nigeria's financial sector.
The HoldCo status will make it flexible to adapt to future business opportunities - note that GTBank has invested in some small business opportunities such as Habari (an online marketplace) and its Quick Credit service which is one of the most used loan sources due to its cheap interest rate.
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