… first corporate bond listing on FMDQ in 2017
FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange Tuesday commemorated the listing of the Forte Oil plc N9 billion Series 1 17.50 percent Fixed Rate Unsecured Bond (Forte Oil plc Bond), under a N50 billion Bond Issuance Programme to its platform.
The listing represents the first corporate bond listing on FMDQ this year, and among those present to celebrate the successful admittance of the Forte Oil Bond on FMDQ include Akin Akinfemiwa, group CEO, Forte Oil, representing the issuer, and Toyin Sanni, group CEO, United Capital plc, representing the sponsor of the bond, as well as the Registration Member (Listings) (RML), on FMDQ’s platform.
Tumi Sekoni, vice president/divisional head, marketing/business development, FMDQ, in her welcome address, applauded the issuer for successfully raising N9 billion from the domestic market, and for joining the league of other top companies whose debt profiles had been raised via the value- packed Listings and Quotations service offered by FMDQ.
According to Sekoni, being listed on FMDQ will avail the Forte Oil Bond unprecedented market transparency, unrivalled information disclosure, efficient price formation and improved global visibility, among other benefits, through FMDQ’s systems and website.
Also speaking, Akinfemiwa highlighted that, “The listing of our N9 billion Series 1, 5-year 17.50% Fixed Rate Bond maturing in 2021 on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange is another remarkable milestone for Forte Oil Plc and it demonstrates the immense potential of the Nigerian Bond Market as a source of alternative funding for Nigerian corporates.”
He said: “It also reaffirms our commitment to transparent and timely corporate disclosures and liquidity of our issued corporate instruments be it equity or debt. In addition, we strongly believe this listing will provide opportunity for price discovery for our investors.”
Accordingly, as is the tradition of the OTC Exchange, the issuer, sponsor of the bond & FMDQ RML, and FMDQ signed the FMDQ Bond Listings Register, after which an FMDQ Bond Listing Certificate was presented to the issuer. The FMDQ Listing Scrolls and Plaques were unveiled and presented to both the issuer and sponsor of the bond, and the FMDQ Bond Listing Wall of Fame was autographed by the issuer.
Following the presentation to the sponsor of the bond on FMDQ, Toyin Sanni said, “We are delighted to have played a leading role in the successful execution of the Forte Oil N9 billion Series 1 Bond issue. Coming from a successful 2016, United Capital remains committed to making significant contributions to the success of our esteemed clients.
This successful issuance represents one of the ways in which we support leading businesses through our expertise in capital raising. United Capital has played a pioneering role in developing Nigeria’s debt capital market having participated in 70 percent of Debt Capital transactions executed between 2015 and 2016.
It is noteworthy that United Capital has invested up to N60bn in bonds issued by Nigerian State Governments and Corporate Issuers during this period. 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.”
FMDQ’s platform, through its unique Listings and Quotations service, has continued to provide an efficient and timely channel for issuers in the Nigerian debt capital market to access the market for their funding needs. Despite the economic headwinds, the OTC Exchange remains unrelenting in its efforts to promote and build on initiatives and strategic alliances, to further deepen the markets within its purview.
