Corporate Finance Group

Access Bank’s Corporate Finance Group is focused on providing medium/long-term, wholesale funding solutions to our esteemed clients. These solutions are provided through:

• Project & Structured Finance
• Equity & Debt Capital Markets.

Project & Structured Finance

• Project Finance: The Group advises on and arranges limited or non-recourse long term debt financing for infrastructure and industrial projects on behalf of the Bank’s customers.
• Housing & Mortgage Finance: It involves creation of funding structures designed to enable the Bank intervene along the entire housing finance value chain; from construction finance, through the provision of mortgages and subsequently asset securitization.
• ECA Finance & Advisory / Multilateral Agency Finance: Through our strategic alliances with several Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), the group provides alternative funding for local borrowers through various structures including export credit and on-lending facilities as well as investment and credit guarantees.
• Structured Finance: Lending premised on a history of strong cash flows (could be secured or largely unsecured). Funds are advanced based on the history that indicates a consistent flow of cash into the borrower’s business that will allow for the timely and orderly repayment of the loan amount.
• Syndications / Co-financing / Risk Sharing: This service is essentially for large infrastructure or industrial debt transactions that exceed the exposure limit or appetite of a single lender. For such transactions, the Corporate Finance Group arranges a syndicate/club of Banks; aggregates the loan participation of the Syndicate members and provides the client with a facility defined by a single loan agreement.

Equity & Debt Capital Markets
The Bank’s Equity and Debt Capital Markets team advices on and execute Public Offerings, Right Issues and Private Placements, raising financing from both the equity and debt markets on behalf of the Bank’s customers (including companies, sub-national governments, investment schemes and government-owned corporations). We work with our clients to structure capital-raising transactions, and act as Lead Advisers on such transactions, co-coordinating the team of professional advisers in order to ensure that the transaction meets regulatory requirements and is also commercially successful. Access Bank (through the Corporate Finance Group) provides the following services in the capital markets:

• Issuing House: We provide issuing house services that include acting as agent of Issuer for purposes of Primary Issues, coordinating activities of other professionals and parties to the issue, preparing the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and other Offer documents.
• Underwriting: We provide/arrange (in conjunction with other institutions) firm or standby underwriting for public and private offerings of securities, on behalf of our clients.
• Receiving Bank: We act as custodian for proceeds of clients’ capital raising exercise prior to allotment of shares and return (if applicable) of excess funds to investors.
• Financial Advisory & Restructuring: We also act as Financial Advisers in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As), Investment Advisory, Management Buy-Outs (MBOs), Privatizations and Divestitures, with the aim of guiding the client through the complex process of merging with, acquiring or divesting from another company.

Some of the major transactions handled by the team in recent times include:

• African Petroleum Plc N110 billion Public Offering and Rights Issue (2008)
• Zenith Bank Plc N130 billion Public Offering and Rights Issue (2007)
• Diamond Bank Plc US$400 million Global Depository Receipts Offering (2007)
• Dangote Flour Mills Plc N18.7 billion Offer for Sale (2007)
• Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Offer for Sale (2006)

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