APS Bank on Monday moved a step closer to raising equity capital for the first time in its 112-year history, announcing an application for listing on the stock exchange and a public share offer.

The bank intends to offer 100,000,000 ordinary shares for sale, with an over-allotment option of an additional 10,000,000 new ordinary shares.

The shares will be offered at an issue price of €0.62 per share to the general public and preferred applicants, including staff and bondholders of the bank.

Most shares of the bank are currently held by a Church-owned company named AROM Holdings. The second-largest shareholder is the Diocese of Gozo. Together they own 97% of the bank. 

In announcing a pre-tax profit of €24.1 million for 2021, the bank had said in March that it would be approaching the market to raise equity capital for the first time.

"This long-awaited step is not a goal of prestige but an integral part of the plan agreed years back with the shareholders that sees us on a path of growth also through the diversification of the shareholder base," the group had said.

"Our strategy of being a leading community bank has become increasingly about being a pillar of support for Maltese businesses and families, as the experience of recent years has shown. We look forward to the coming months with optimism for the successful execution of this important project.”

The bank said on Monday it has entered into pre-allocation agreements with various authorised financial intermediaries and investors who will be able to subscribe to the new shares at an issue price of €0.62, and depending on the total Euro amount invested by each investor, at a discount to the issue price. In terms of these pre-allocation agreements, the bank is conditionally bound to issue 69,681,981 new shares at an average price of €0.594 per share. 

Further details on the proposed listing and IPO, including the method of application for new shares and the timetable for the offer period, will be available in the prospectus to be published by the bank.