Standard Bank says its role in the recent recapitalization of property firm MPICO through the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) demonstrates the bank’s position as a major player in the country’s capital markets.
The bank’s Head of Investment Banking Shakil Satar said success of the deal is an indicator in the market that funding requirements do not always need to be met with a debt solution.
“There lie alternatives to capital-raising. The MPICO transaction has led to a shift in views around capital raising, opening up an opportunity for the bank to work with a broad range of Malawian companies to restructure their balance sheets through equity funding especially in a prevailing high interest rates environment,” he said.
The Investment Head further said the MPICO deal confirms Standard Bank’s expertise as a leading player in the Malawi capital and equity markets.
“This transaction illustrates our partnering spirit and the focus to drive Malawi’s capital markets forward. Our strength lies in our ability to leverage global relationships and capabilities for local capital formation across Africa,” he said.
Satar said Standard Bank’s understanding of the Malawi capital market coupled with its strong equity platform meant the bank was best placed to support MPICO’s rights issue process.
He said the long term impact of the deal will be the building of new properties, the upgrading of existing properties as well as the job creation which will inevitably result in broader positive impact for the Malawi economy.
“Our involvement in this ground breaking deal further establishes our expertise and experience as a major player in Malawi’s capital market,” he said.
Standard Bank acted as the sole financial advisor and originator in the transaction, which saw MPICO raising about K9 billion from issuance of over 1 billion shares. It is the largest share rights issue in recent financial history in Malawi
