Recapitalisation of Union Bank To be completed by September

Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc Wednesday outlined all-inclusive plan to raise between N270 billion and N300 billion required to retain its international banking status, just as it assured all stakeholders that

it would complete its recapitalisation process before the September 2011 deadline stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The fresh capital, which is just an estimate since the bank is still an ongoing concern, would be a combination of both equity from a core investor, Rights issue from existing shareholders and tier 2 capital from AMCON, Group Managing Director of the bank, Mrs Funke Osibodu, told reporters in Lagos at an interactive session.

Giving an insight into the process of recapitalising, she said: “As at December 31, 2010, Union Bank, which is one of the eight rescued banks, had negative capital of N182 billion. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, which was set up to buy toxic assets from the banks after a debt crisis in 2008 and 2009, had earlier bought bad loans worth N239 billion from the bank.-Vanguard