Deputy Managing Director, FBN Merchant Bank, Taiwo Okeowo (left); Managing Director, Kayode Akinkugbe; Chairman, Bello Maccido; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enyinna Enelamah and Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, U.K. Eke, during the FBNQuest investors’ conference 2016 in Lagos. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU
FBNQuest Merchant Bank, the investment banking and asset management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, has received accolades from global financial and capital market awarding institutions in recognition of the impact and size of transactions delivered in 2017.
The firm won five awards in various categories of the EMEAFice Achievement Awards- Best Local Currency Bond House and Best Social Development Bond’ for its role in Mixta Real Estate’s $4.5 billion Senior Guaranteed Fixed Rate Bonds.
It also won Most Innovative Naira Bond for the $300 million Inaugural SEC-Registered Diaspora Bond; Best Mergers and Acquisition Deal for the Divestment of AMCON’s 100 per cent shareholding in Keystone Bank; and Best Naira Bond for its role as one of the financial advisers on the Federal Government ₦100 billion seven-year Sovereign Sukuk.
The bank was also recognised for the FGN’s Sukuk transaction, receiving the ‘Deal of the Year – Africa’ award.The Managing Director of the bank, Kayode Akinkugbe, said: “We are proud of these accomplishments and how we have been able to deliver impact by working with our partners. We will not stop to strive for excellence, as these awards encourage us to stay true to our values to be impactful and to contribute meaningfully to economic growth’.
The organisers noted that the debut Sukuk issuance had no precedent to provide a benchmark and no explicit guidelines within the general regulatory framework.Nevertheless, through diligent structuring and positioning, the offer received a strong market reception and was oversubscribed, with PFAs, Banks and Asset/Fund Managers accounting for over 70 per cent.
Proceeds from the issue are allocated to the construction and rehabilitation of 25 roads across the country.This supports one of the key strategic priorities of the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which is to address transportation infrastructure challenges.
The transaction has helped to deepen the Nigerian debt capital market by creating a benchmark for pricing future Sukuk, in addition to successfully attracting investors with an appetite for non-interest bearing instruments.It has also boosted capital expenditure and strengthened public financial management, given the project-targeted ficing and the discipline imposed by the structure.