Access Holdings increases equity stake in E-tranzact to N12.1bn

By Business A.M. 

Access Holdings (HoldCo) Plc, Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, has increased its investments in the fintech company, E-tranzact, to N12.1 billion as it acquired more shares in a bid to strengthen its position in the payment space. The move raises  the company’s stake in the fintech firm to 37.56 per cent as of December 2022 from 23.8 per cent in 2021.

Access Holdings disclosed this in its recently released Q1 2023 financial statement, where it disclosed that it holds an equity interest of 3.45 billion ordinary shares of 50k each in E-tranzact International Plc as of 31 December 2022, representing 37.56 per cent equity participation.

It, however, noted that no dividend income was received from E-tranzact during the reviewed year.

The group also noted that the proportion of its interest is the same as the proportion of its voting rights in E-tranzact.

“There are no significant restrictions on the ability of the associates to transfer funds to the group in the form of cash dividends, or repayments of loans or advances. The associate was accounted for using the equity method at the Group level The Group exercises significant influence in E-tranzact International Limited by virtue of its more than 20% shareholding in the entity and the representation of one director on the board of the company and significant participation in the company’s operating and financial policies,” the bank stated.

Access Holdings further disclosed that the existing investment the group had in Etranzact was initially recognized in the books under equity instruments measured at Fair value through profit or loss. It added that at the point of increasing the stakes of the group in Etranzact by means of the Right issue, the existing shares were reclassified to investment in associates at their fair value.

E-tranzact (ETRAN), a fully integrated fintech platform in Africa was founded in 2003 and is one of the leading independent players in Lagos, Nigeria with a diversified license and product capabilities,including payment processing and banking and payment services across