FCMB seals $150m loan facility deal to boost credit operations

By The Citizen

First City Monument Bank Limited has announced the signing of a $150m senior unsecured term loan facility with Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft and Standard Chartered Bank acting as initial mandated lead arrangers and book-runners.

A statement by the bank on Wednesday stated that the agreement represented its largest fundraising to date in the commercial bank syndicated loan market.

The facility, which was pre-funded by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft and Standard Chartered Bank, was inaugurated at $100m and subsequently increased following a highly successful general syndication phase.

The statement stated that the proceeds of the facility would be used for general lending purposes, adding that Standard Chartered Bank would act as a facility agent.

The Deputy Managing Director, FCMB, Mr. Segun Odusanya, said the successful conclusion, oversubscription and the number of international financial institutions that participated in the loan syndication indicated the level of confidence which the international banking community had in the bank and the Nigerian market as a whole.

He said, 'The proceeds of the fund raising will be used to support medium term lending to key sectors of the economy such as power, oil and gas upstream , manufacturing and agri-business in line with the bank's commitment to supporting the critical areas to the success of the Nigerian economy.'

According to the statement, the FCMB is a full service banking group, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.

As of December 2013, it had two million customers, N1tn in assets, over 270 branches in Nigeria and a licensed banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom and a representative office in the Republic of South Africa, the statement added.