*Stanbic IBTC Capital, Chapel Hill Denham sweep annual dinner awards
The investment banking sector of the economy handled major transactions that defined the outgoing year and requires recognition, the President, Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, ‘Kemi Awodein, has said.
She spoke on Thursday, during the Investment Banking Awards Dinner held in Lagos.
According to her, the award is meant to celebrate the achievements of investment bankers in Nigeria and motivate them to do more in the coming year.
Awodein explained that the several successful transactions facilitated within the year, including Heineken’s $24bn acquisition of a controlling stake in Nigerian Breweries and Sahara Group’s $1bn purchase of Egbin Power, showed the strength and resilience of the investment banking market and the economy.
“The prominent transactions include Seplat Energy’s $650m bond issuance, aimed at expanding its energy operations, and Airtel Africa’s $500m capital raise, which was used to enhance telecommunications infrastructure. These initiatives were made more feasible by the improved economic environment following the reforms,” the AIHN president said.
She said: “So, I think this event, celebrates investment banking sector as a whole, and further celebrates people who have worked hard and executed large ticket transactions. It is also an opportunity for us to appreciate our clients who have given us the mandates that have led to us receiving and achieving those accolades.”
Awodein said that the awards were for 2023 transactions, adding that 2024 has been a busy year and is expected to bring about a lot more impactful and interesting transactions that could qualify for awards next year.
This year’s awards saw Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited dominating the winner’s list.
Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited won the Best Public Sector Debt Issuance House 2023, Best Commercial Paper House 2023, Best Corporate Bond House 2023, Best DCM House 2023, Best Equity Deal of 2023 and Best Investment Bank 2023.
Also, Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited won the Best Equity House 2023, Best M&A Deal of 2023, and Best M&A House 2023.
The Chief Executive Officer, Chapel Hill Denham, Bolaji Balogun, said 2023 wasn’t a bad year in the investment banking markets, but relative to the activity that has happened this year, it was a relatively lighter year.
“But all of that said, I think we’re all very, very proud, first and foremost, to have had a good year, and you know, to be winners at this year’s award. I enjoyed the awards a lot more the prior year, because we won all nine awards. But sometimes you have to let some other people win some, and we have to go away and work harder. And I hope we have an even stronger year next year,” he said.
Balogun said his company “works hard to ensure that the standard of work delivered on behalf of clients is consistent.”
He said, “The second thing we all do is to recognise that it’s not about us, it’s all about clients. It’s all about helping clients find solutions to challenges.”
The Head, Real Estate Finance, Stanbic IBTC Capital, Tola Akinhanmi, said the winnings were as a result of hard work by the team.
“It has been a difficult environment, but the ethos of the bank is focused on our clients. The team always finds solutions, despite the difficult environment, and creating solutions for client needs. So, I think being able to have this testament and recognition of that work is very fine, and will only push us to actually do more,” he said.
Akinhanmi said the raising of minimum capital for investment banks was a bold move, which many thought was a challenge, “but it rather motivated the company to go into the market and raised enough capital.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Marble Capital, Akeem Oyewale, said it was “actually a very, very good thing that the investment banking community was able to come together and recognise the good work done in the last one year.”
He said, “We’ve seen the impact of raising capital, or how it has enabled private enterprises to grow. So, recognising the people that were behind the scenes aggregating all these capital and making sure they meet all the regulatory requirements is good.”
He said the year 2025 should actually be a bigger year as everyone “has attuned towards the government vision of having a $1tn economy.
“I think the investment community has proven yet again that they are ready to support the government in achieving that,” he said.
The Group Treasurer, United Bank for Africa, Steven Amangbo, described the award as excellent and a reward for hard work. “Well, I think the event that we’ve had today is actually very, very good. It’s more like a reward for the hard work that all the Issuing houses have done. This will further propel those that were unable to win award to work hard,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Commissioner of Operations at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bola Ajomale, asked the investment bankers to put more efforts in ensuring that investors knew about the risks of investing in ponzi schemes.
He said giving out right information about the opportunities and threats in the investment banking markets will support sectoral growth and development.
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