By Dipo Olowookere
Commercial paper worth N23.6 billion is to be raised by FSDH Merchant Bank Limited for its short-term working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.
The note is being floated by the financial institution under its N40.0 billion commercial paper programme, Business Post gathered.
The sale of the N23.6 billion is being offered by FSDH in three series, series 3, 4 and 5, according to details of the issuance seen by this newspaper.
Subscriptions for the commercial paper commenced on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, and is expected to wrap up on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, but this is expected to be extended because of the two-day public holiday declared by the federal government on Tuesday and Wednesday for Eid-el-Kabir.
The series 3 CP is with a maturity of 116 days, with a coupon rate of 8.74 per cent, the series 4 note comes with a 188-day tenor with a coupon rate of 11.10 per cent, while the series 5 paper comes with a 270-day maturity and a coupon rate of 11.65 per cent.
A commercial paper is an unsecured, short-term debt instrument issued for the financing of accounts payable and inventories and meeting short-term liabilities.
Maturities on commercial paper rarely range longer than 270 days and are usually issued at a discount from face value and reflects prevailing market interest rates.
FSDH, a subsidiary of FSDH Holding Company, which started as the first discount house in Nigeria in 1993, transformed into a merchant bank in 2012 after it received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The firm offers services such as cash management, wealth management, risk management, financing and advisory.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale