The board and management of Skye Bank Plc at the weekend concluded arrangements to raise N15 billion in fresh tier-one capital.
According to the bank, the fund is expected to boost shareholders’ funds by 17 per cent from N88 billion at year-ended December 31, 2009 to N103 billion.
Skye Bank’s shareholders at the yearly general meeting held on May 20, 2010, had authorised the bank to raise about N100 billion in equity and debt over the next two years.

The Guardian gathered that this initial capital constituted the equity part of the proposed funding programme, while the balance would be sourced via long-term debt, which would be raised in the course of the two-year period.
Available information indicated that the special placement would be offered at a price of N7.00, which is a nine per cent discount, to the market price of N7.66 per share.

A senior management staff of the bank who did not want his name mentioned explained at the weekend that the said funds, which would be raised through special placement had continued to generate “considerable excitement among international investors who have given their firm commitment to invest.”
Explaining further, the source said: “The commitment, especially considering recent developments in the banking industry, is an eloquent testimony to the resilience of the Skye brand and the confidence of current and prospective investors in the capacity of the bank to efficiently pursue its growth agenda.”
Information made available explained that Skye Bank would consider raising additional capital on a periodic basis as a deliberate policy aimed at efficiently achieving its growth and expansion aspirations as various opportunities unfold within the local and international markets.

The former Group Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Akinsola Akinfemiwa, had disclosed earlier in the year, that Skye Bank might acquire any of the rescued banks.

The source said that Skye Bank planned to continue to operate as an international bank under the new banking model introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to the source, one of the primary objectives of the new leadership of the bank led by Mr. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti is to position the institution as one of Nigeria’s most efficiently run banks based on “integrity, conservatism, best-practice governance, customer accessibility, robust risk management and continuous creation of shareholder value.”

Skye Bank’s principal business areas apart from its core commercial banking franchise includes corporate banking, project finance, development and structured finance as well as international trade finance.
It also has subsidiaries in the areas of insurance, corporate finance and asset management, mortgage financing, stock brokerage, and trusteeship services.