United Capital Plc said it has committed up to N60 billion in the last two years to underwrite bonds issued by state governments and corporate issuers.
The Group Managing Director/CEO, United Capital, Mrs. Oluwatonyi Sanni, who disclosed this at the sidelines of the ceremony to commemorate the listing of Forte Oil Plc’s N9 billion bonds at the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange Plc, said that of the amount so far invested by the company, 80 per cent went into corporate bonds.
She noted that United Capital has also participated in over 70 per cent of debt capital transactions executed between 2015 and 2016, adding that 68.13 per cent of the N9 billion raised by Forte Oil was underwritten by the company.
She said: “This is to send a clear message that we are in the business of empowering Nigeria corporate entities, African corporate entities, African governments and we also serve majority of Nigerian state governments that come to this market. This is not the first of the issuances we have brought to the FMDQ, we will do more.
We will continue to support Nigerian governments and businesses with superior advisory, capital raising, trade execution, asset management and trust services. This is a true testament to our industry leadership and expertise.
“A year ago, at the end of 2015, we introduced the largest debt capital issuance in this market, the UBA N30 billion issue. We will keep doing this; we did the first joint issuing on the stock exchange and the FMDQ as well and we will continue to pioneer initiatives to grow and deepen this market and provide funding for critical needs of corporate entities.”
“We have no doubt in our minds that we are building Africa’s biggest investment banking institution and for us to be able to do that, we need to partner with issuers such as Forte Oil Plc. And we support issuers with a significant funding; so of the N9 billion, I believe 68. 13 per cent came out of United Capital.
“Coming from the 2016 performances, even though I am being modest, but I must say has been stellar, which has been made public already, I want to say that we aim to push the frontiers further in 2017 by partnering with the excellent institutions to keep the return higher to all stakeholders,” she added.
She stated that liquidity challenges companies are facing coupled with impact of foreign exchange and currency devaluation has meant that a lot of corporates need to access stable and long term funding at cheap rate.
According to her, the debt market provides brilliant opportunity for companies seeking to raise funding to meet their expansion and working capital requirements.
