Business
As 36yr Olds, How Aig Imoukhuede & Herbert Wigwe Raised Money To Buy Access Bank
they didn’t have the N1Billion to purchase the shares that would put them in control of Access Bank.
In 2001, Access Bank put up a N1Billion public subscription offer.
Aigboje Aig Imoukhuede and Herbert as 36year old bankers working at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) were working on fulfilling the ambition to own a bank.
Backed by a team of advisers on the bank acquisition project tagged “Project Festival” and coordinated by Albert Okumagba – the late boss of BGL Securities -, they set their eyes on Access Bank.
“Herbert and I had just two hundred Million between us, comprising our shares in Guaranty Trust and the sum of our total savings” Imoukhuede revealed.
And in a story that tells of passion and determination and strong gut to succeed, explained how the remaining eight hundred million Naira was raised “We put together a list of investors comprising of friends and family who we believed would be willing to support us. We convinced them to place at our disposal landed properties and bank deposits on the strength of which we would be able to finance the acquisition.”
Imoukhuede who tells the inspiring story of the acquisition of Access Bank in his booth “LEAVING THE TARMAC..Buying A BANK IN AFRICA” further explained that once the money was raised the partners ensured that the “recapitalsation complied with all relevant laws of the country” and every step in perfecting the acquisition was consistent with legal requirements and met the expectations of the SEC(Securities and Exchange Commission), the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) and Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Imoukhuede and Wige, the friends and business partners that acquired Access Bank are the same age though different months but just days apart – Wiwge is August 15 while Imoukhuede is September 24.
They were born in 1966.
Imoukhuede the immediate past Chief Executive Officer and Wigwe the current CEO have grown Access Bank to become a very top player in its sphere of operations in the country with growing recognition in Africa.
