NSE announces financial advisers for demutualisation

By Chioma Obinagwam

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the appointment of the consortium of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Chapel Hill Denham (CHD) as financial advisers on the proposed demutualisation of the Exchange.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) is the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand, one of Africa’s largest, listed financial services groups.

Chapel Hill Denham is a leading Nigerian investment bank, providing financial advisory services to domestic and international corporations, institutions, governments and individual clients, investing in Africa.

The NSE said it employed a very rigorous and extensive selection process, commencing with a Request for Proposal (RFP) process which began on March 11, 2014 inviting qualified financial consortia to submit Expressions Of Interest (EOI).

As part of the EOI, potential financial advisors (FAs) were required to express their interests as a consortium of one international and one Nigerian investment bank, where at least one party of the consortium had participated in the demutualisation of a securities exchange as lead adviser.

The Nigerian bourse further stated that the qualifying consortia were sent the RFP and 13 proposals were received by deadline date.

“These proposals were reviewed extensively and scored (technical and financial considerations) by NSE. After a round of presentations, only three consortia progressed to the final stage which was aimed at picking the most competent consortium and extracting the best value for NSE,” it disclosed.

Commenting on the appointment, the Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said: “This appointment affirms our commitment to achieving the demutualisation of the NSE in a methodical and transparent fashion. This step is pivotal to a professional and successful conversion of the Exchange from a member-owned mutual organisation to shareholder-owned public limited liability company that aligns with global best practices”.

Mr. Onyema reiterated the commitment of the Exchange to ensuring that the interests of all members are protected in the demutualisation exercise.

“We have implemented a number of initiatives to strengthen and improve governance at the Exchange. This demutualisation process will contribute to the sustenance and enhancement of our governance. We are truly encouraged by the support from our stakeholders, particularly our Regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission for creating the appropriate framework to accelerate the process that would engender a more open, transparent and credible Exchange.”

Commenting on the appointment, the CEO of RMB Nigeria and Regional Head for West Africa, Mr. Michael Larbie, said: “RMB is delighted to be assisting the NSE with the demutualisation. We believe a demutualisation will further strengthen the NSE’s position as a leading exchange in Africa. We intend to leverage our deep advisory and structuring expertise and in-depth understanding of the Global Market Structure and Broker Dealer sector to support the process.”

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Commenting on the appointment, CEO of Chapel Hill Denham added: “Chapel Hill Denham is honoured to have been selected by the Nigerian Stock Exchange on this most important engagement. We look forward to working with the exchange and all its stakeholders in delivering a successful outcome.”