NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 3 – National Bank has appointed a consortium of transaction advisors to spearhead its National Bank Managing Director Munir Ahmed said the appointment of the transaction advisors now sets pace for the process which is expected to provide additional cash to boost the Bank’s growth plan/FILE The Bank has picked Faida Investment Bank and Dyer & Blair Investment Bank as Joint Lead Transaction Advisor & Joint Sponsoring Stockbrokers; Oraro & Company Advocates the Legal Advisors; Deloitte & Touche the Reporting Accountants, Hill +Knowlton Strategies the Public Relations & Advertising Consultants; and Image Registrars Limited Receiving Agent and Data Processing Consultant. National Bank will be the Receiving Bank.
National Bank Managing Director Munir Ahmed said the appointment of the transaction advisors now sets pace for the process which is expected to provide additional cash to boost the Bank’s growth plan.
“We announced our intention to raise additional funds in our AGM in June last year, where the shareholders approved the raising of additional capital to support our ambitious growth plans. And we are keen to accomplish this process successfully in the next few months. This requires that we engage various stakeholders including the regulators, shareholders, and the general investing public, at various stages of the transaction. We are confident that we now have a competent team of advisors appointed to help us achieve this goal within the stipulated time,” said Ahmed.
National Bank has been executing a comprehensive Five Year Strategic Transformation Program over the past 12 months starting March 2013 whose goal is to make National Bank a top tier bank in Kenya by 2017. The Bank is seeking additional funds to boost its balance sheet, to finance its expansion and growth programme in Kenya and the region.
“At the current growth rate, the bank requires capital to support further business growth in the near future, and to this end our shareholders approved a resolution for the Bank to raise additional capital through a Rights Issue,” said Ahmed.
“The funds raised will also be used to grow the balance sheet; meet enhanced statutory capital requirements, invest in branch and network expansion within the country and regionally; invest in product innovation; complete technology upgrade and capabilities; strengthen credit risk management capacity and restructure the bank’s cost base,” he explained.
The team will now embark on the preparation of the documents needed for the approval of the transaction by the Capital Markets Authority, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
“We are optimistic that the investors who have been loyal to us will respond positively as they’ve seen what we have been able to achieve to date and therefore participate in the huge potential for growth that we see in the business and the economy,” said Ahmed.
National Bank is a fully fledged Commercial Bank listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and established in 1968 to provide Kenyans access to finance. It has since grown to be one of the largest commercial banks in the country with staff of 1,800, a growing network of 75 branch outlets across the country, 140 ATMs and electronic channels of Mobile and Internet Banking. National Bank participates in Corporate Banking, Business Banking, Retail Banking and Islamic Banking with an extensive portfolio of products and financial solutions tailored for the requirements of a broad spectrum of customer segments it serves.
