Apis issues correction statement to article in Premium Times (Nigeria) regarding Bankers Warehouse Limited

On 27th December 2018, the Premium Times in Nigeria published an article in relation to Banker Warehouse Limited (formerly Bankers Warehouse Plc). This article contained a number of inaccurate statements, which Apis Partners LLP would like to clarify as follows:

• Apis Growth Fund I (the “Fund”) a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis”) entered into definitive transaction agreements in respect of a proposed investment by the Fund into Bankers Warehouse Plc (now Bankers Warehouse Limited) in September 2017. The proposed investment was conditional upon satisfaction of various closing conditions and approvals contained in the definitive transaction agreements;
• Some of the closing conditions and approvals were not fulfilled and so the proposed investment by the Fund did not occur. No investment has therefore been made into Bankers Warehouse Limited by the Fund or any of its affiliates. Consequently, neither the Fund, Apis, nor any of their respective affiliates, is, or has ever been, a shareholder of Bankers Warehouse Limited;
• The above position can be verified by a search of publicly available records relating to Bankers Warehouse Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria and also in the NIPC report (https://www.nipc.gov.ng/apis-invests-nigerias-bankers-warehouse/) where it is clearly stated that the “transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and approvals;”
• Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi is not, and has never been, a promoter of Bankers Warehouse Limited. He is also not a director or a shareholder of Bankers Warehouse Limited and has never held any office or executive position with the company. This can likewise be verified by a search of the records relating to Bankers Warehouse Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission;
• Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi is a partner of Apis, the investment fund manager of the Fund. As such, he was leading the investment team involved in the negotiations for the proposed investment by the Fund into Bankers Warehouse Limited, which ultimately did not materialise;
• At no stage has Apis published any information contrary to the above statements in relation to Bankers Warehouse Limited or the proposed investment by the Fund into Bankers Warehouse Limited. Any information published by third parties that is contrary to the statements made by Apis in respect of the proposed investment by the Fund in Bankers Warehouse Limited, has not been, and is not, sanctioned or approved by Apis or the Fund, and are not statements for which they are, or can be held, responsible or accountable.