TEquity Partners to branch overseaso offer corporate finance
solutions in South Asia, Gulf:
Ravi LADDUWAHETTY
Equity Partners, the investment banking joint venture between DFCC
Stockbrokers, HNB Stockbrokers and HNB Securities will shortly offer
wide ranging Corporate Financing Solutions in South Asian region and the
Gulf.
Equity Partners are already tied up with the Chennai-headquartered
City Union Bank of India which has 140 plus branches and will be
venturing into Bangladesh, Maldives and the Gulf.
Nihal Fonseka |
Deva Ellepola |
“We have regional aspirations and we are going to open out our
markets with some niche products in some special areas, Equity Partners
Chairman and DFCC Bank Director / CEO Nihal Fonseka told Daily News
Business yesterday.
He also said that the company would be looking at Gulf and South
Asian markets such as Maldives and Bangladesh for similar operations and
have identified them. However, he said that the transactions will be
effective only with the completion of the due diligence processes
completed which will be effective in 2009.
Meanwhile, Equity Partners Executive Director and HNB Stockbrokers
Managing Director Deva Ellepola said that the joint venture company was
attempting to leverage economies of scale and that the local corporate’s
tie up with the Indian counterpart, would see the offering of a large
number of fee based solutions such as project financing and corporate
financing along with the non fee based activities such as Fund
Management at affordable rates in comparison with the Indian
counterparts.
He said that the reason to go for the lower end of the Indian market
was due to stringent competition where the foreign players in India such
as JP Morgan would go for funding of macro-projects such as over US$ 100
million while the domestic banking giants would fund projects up to US$
50 million and that the local corporate would go in for projects which
were relatively smaller up to around US $ 30 million.
Equity Partners would also serve as Corporate Advisors for
transactions such as Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), restructuring and
acquisitions and mergers, development of Derivative Markets while
managing Corporate Bonds as well.
He said that the investments and the project financing will also be
done at a later stage subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka as the foreign exchange had to be released.
Equity Partners is also the first and only instance of a fully
integrated Investment Bank in Sri Lanka with the entire gamut of
financial services such as investment banking, project financing, equity
debt and corporate financing. The company commenced with the transfer of
assets of DFCC Stockbrokers, HNB Stockbrokers and HNB Securities worth
Rs. 500 million on July 1. |