Guaranty Trust Holding Company acquires Investment One Funds Management

GT Bank's parent company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) has concluded the acquisition of the 100% equity stake in Investment One Pension Managers Limited (IOPM) and Investment One Funds Management Limited (IOFM).

IOPM is licensed by the Nigerian Pensions Commission to operate as a Pension Fund Administrator in Nigeria. On the other hand, IOFM is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to undertake fund management and investment services on behalf of clients and manage collective investments schemes as a corporate investment adviser

With this acquisition, GTCO will expand its product and service offerings into the Assets and Funds management segments whilst positioning GTCO Plc as a dominant player for all critical financial services.

The transaction, which marks the GTCO’s entry into the asset management business, was completed nearly eight months after it transitioned into a holding company structure in an attempt to create an operating model that will profitably grow its commercial banking operations and non-banking financial services.

"Whilst we are evolving as an organization, we remain committed to our founding values which have endeared our brand to millions of people across Africa and beyond, and which continue to drive our financial success", Segun Agbaje, GTCO's CEO stated.

He added that, "We are very excited to get started on the next phase of our incredible journey to driving Africa’s growth by making end-to-end financial services easily accessible to every African and African Businesses by leveraging Technology and Strategic Partnerships".

GTCO is a diversified financial services company with N5.144trillion in assets, providing commercial banking services and non-banking financial services across eleven countries, including the United Kingdom.

The Group offers a wide range of banking as well as non-banking financial services in Nigeria, West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom. It is rated B- by S&P, a reflection of the Group’s stability and reputation of being a well-established franchise with strong asset quality and consistent excellent financial performance.

The undisclosed deal was facilitated by Exotix Advisory Limited and Vetiva Capital Management Limited as Financial Advisers, Aluko & Oyebode as Legal Adviser and Deloitte & Touche (Nigeria) as Financial Due Diligence Adviser.

In the third quarter of 2021, GTCO recorded a 9 percent slide in profit [N129.4 billion] compared to N142.2 billion in the earlier 2020 period due to materially lower interest income for the period. It net interest income fell by 14.1 percent to N162.9 billion in the period as fair value gains from investment securities fell for the period.

This acquisition creates room for a diversification that will avert the reoccurrence of a slide in GTCO's profit in the third quarter of 2022.  

Featured image courtesy Billionaires Africa