COMBANK in collaborative alliance with Asia Securities Holdings for investment banking

Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan and Asia Securities Holdings Chairman Dumith Fernando (4th and 5th from right respectively) exchange the MoU in the presence of members of the management of the two companies

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has entered into a collaborative alliance with Asia Securities Holdings Ltd., to provide investment banking services to customers of both companies.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two institutions paves the way for a wide range of investment banking services to be provided to corporate customers. These include  equity and debt capital raising through listed and unlisted instruments, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory, shareholder value maximisation advisory, and corporate financial restructuring advisory services.

The MOU was signed on behalf of the two parties by 

Commercial Bank Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer S. Renganathan and Asia Securities Holdings Chairman Dumith Fernando.

The alliance strengthens the position of both parties in the investment banking space. The combined teams would provide their customers with strong structuring, valuation and issue management capabilities, market knowledge and strategic insights, and the ability to source investments from investor categories encompassing local and overseas institutional, high net worth and retail investors.

The collaborative alliance also holds potential for further collaborations in future between the two parties in other related areas, the bank said. The Investment Banking Unit of Commercial Bank executes the investment banking business of the Bank and has established a strong position in the investment banking space specialising in equity and debt fund raising assignments both public and private, and in valuation, structuring and corporate advisory. The unit fulfills an important role in the strategy of Commercial Bank, positioning it as a universal bank with the ability to provide a comprehensive, combined offering of commercial banking and investment banking services to its customers, thereby meeting a wide range of customer needs and providing customer convenience.

Asia Securities Holdings is a leading investment banking firm in Sri Lanka. Its origins date back to the founding, in 1990, of its affiliate Asia Securities Ltd., which was acquired in 2015 by a consortium led by Dumith Fernando. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the firm serves corporate and investor clients across a range of services – capital raising, corporate advisory, equity brokerage and wealth management.

Asia Securities is the local partner for several leading global financial services firms and has recently been internationally awarded for its best-in-class investment research, stock broking and mergers and acquisition services. In the recent past, the firm’s investment banking unit has successfully managed several big-ticket transactions including two of the largest transactions on the CSE.

Commenting on the alliance, Asia Securities Chairman Fernando said: “We are excited by the unique value proposition this will offer to clients, in combining the capabilities of Sri Lanka’s largest listed bank with the country’s most globally-experienced investment banking team.”

The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1000 banks for eight years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 262 branches and 780 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The bank has won more than 30 international and local awards in 2016 and 2017 and over 20 international awards in the first eight months of 2018.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon and a Microfinance company in Nay PyiTaw; the Maldives, where the bank has a fully-fledged Tier I bank with a majority stake; and Italy, where the bank operates its own money transfer service.