By Dipo Olowookere
Recently, one of the leading fintechs in Nigeria, Interswitch Limited, listed its N23 billion worth of bonds it issued to investors not too long ago on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The exercise went smoothly, with investors from various strata of the investing community subscribing to the paper, which some may have initially thought would be a tough one for the firm to pull through.
However, what many did not know was that the process was highly successful because of an input of FBNQuest, the investment banking and asset management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc.
This arm of FBN Holdings was critical to the success of the bond sale as it led a consortium of five issuing houses, helping the issuer with its bid for expansion.
FBNQuest Merchant Bank in its role as lead issuing house assisted the client in arranging, structuring and issuing the Series 1 Bond out of the Bond Issuance Programme launched in May 2019.
As Joint Lead Issuing house/book runner, FBNQuest advised on the transaction structure and marketing strategy for the bonds including market timing, investor road show (in Lagos and Abuja) and crafting an appropriate credit story for the client.
The bonds were successfully distributed to a diversified mix of investors which included Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), banks, asset managers and others.
The final order book was N51 billion out of which a total of N23 billion bids were accepted, meaning the offer was 222 percent subscribed.
The success of the transaction with an order book of 222 percent is a testament to the leading role of the company in the technology and payment processing space where they have consistently led innovation and product development. FBNQuest is proud to have led this milestone transaction.
The transaction adds to the organisations impressive portfolio of organisations it has supported, and once again highlights its capabilities in the successful execution of sizeable capital market and commercial debt transactions.
Speaking on the transaction, Head of Investment Banking at FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Mr Patrick Mgbenwelu, stated that, “We are pleased to have advised Interswitch Limited on the bond listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. As a full-service investment bank, we advised on the bond issuance, structure, and also leveraged our extensive distribution capability to successfully distribute the transaction.”
He further stated that FBNQuest Securities also played a vital role by acting as the Stockbrokers to the listing of the first bond issue by a Fintech to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Interswitch Limited is a leading technology-driven company with a focus on the digitalization of payments in Nigeria and other African countries. The listing ceremony took place on Friday, January 31, 2020.
As a leading investment banking institution, FBNQuest has advised on the issuance of several other commercial papers for organisations such as Mixta Real Estate plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB), Lafarge Africa Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), Wema Bank Plc, and UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC) to mention a few.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale