NDBIB wins Euromoney Award for 11th consecutive year

NDBIB Director/CEO Darshan Perera (left) and Chief Operating Officer Kaushini Laksumanage 

NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) was once again named ‘Best Investment Bank in Sri Lanka’ by the highly acclaimed Euromoney Magazine at the recent Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2022. NDBIB secured this honour for the 11th consecutive year in the midst of one of the most active periods in the recent history of Sri Lanka’s capital markets establishing itself as the leading investment bank in the country by virtue of its unmatched track record across equity and debt capital markets. 

NDBIB remains the only investment bank in the country to be recognised by the Euromoney magazine. In addition to the above accolade, recently, NDBIB was also named the ‘Best Corporate & Investment Bank’ for the sixth consecutive year by Asiamoney Magazine.

Expressing his views, NDBIB Chief Executive Officer Darshan Perera stated, “We at NDBIB have proved once again we are the benchmark for investment banking in Sri Lanka. From landmark transactions, an unprecedented level of funds raised and continuous innovation in the midst of all the challenges faced, we have done it all. Our monopolisation of this award since its inception bears testament to our status as the undisputed market leader. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed clientele who have placed their trust in us and been with us through this journey.”

NDBIB took advantage of the historic levels of capital market activity, culminating in advising on a monumental Rs. 76.2 billion in capital market transactions. NDBIB reaffirmed its status as the preferred advisor for public offerings with five successful listings with a cumulative total funds raised of over $ 28 million, including the SDB Bank equity raising, the only Secondary Public Offering on the CSE for over a decade. NDBIB acted as the lead manager and financial advisor to the IPO of hSenid Business Solutions PLC (the first Enterprise Software Company on the CSE), arguably the most successful IPO on the CSE in recent history, which was a record 13.5x oversubscribed. Among many other firsts were the IPOs of Sri Lanka’s first Paints and Furnishing Company, Revived NBFI and Impact Focused Micro Lender.

The relentless challenges brought on by the global pandemic gave rise to a thriving appetite for M&A activity in 2021 that NDBIB was able to convert into four successful transactions in the listed and unlisted space. NDBIB ran highly competitive processes featuring complex transaction structures geared to the nuances of each transaction that amounted to over $ 15 million in value. The concluded transactions involved companies operating in the renewable energy, education and F&B sectors. NDBIB has been able to carry forward this momentum in the M&A space into 2022 as well, with numerous transactions expected to be completed and announced in the coming weeks.

NDBIB COO Kaushini Laksumanage commented, “We take great pride in being recognised by Euromoney for the 11th consecutive year. The award speaks volumes for the great lengths we go to ensure we consistently deliver at the highest quality standards to our clients. Market timing has been the key factor this year with the volatility prevailing in the macroeconomic environment and we have been able to either successfully navigate through this hurdle or use it to our advantage for all concluded transactions.”

NDBIB advised on a massive Rs. 50+ billion in debt capital markets spread out across Structured Debt, Commercial Papers and Debenture issues. Key amongst these was a strategic debt reprofiling for the LOLC Group that included a series of deals that amounted to Rs. 14 billion in value. NDBIB also advised on a number of offshore fund raises including a $ 75 million raise via Development Financing Institutions (DFI) for its ultimate parent NDB Bank, a $ 14 million quasi equity raise for a leading Bangladeshi corporate and a total of $ 11 million across three transactions in the Maldives. 

NDBIB leveraged on the strengths and synergies derived from being a part of the NDB Group across numerous transactions. Its ultimate parent NDB Bank acted as the banker to numerous Public Offerings, its immediate parent NDB Capital Holdings and sister company NDB Wealth Management came in as institutional investors to multiple transactions while NDB Securities provide extensive support through its broad client network in the placement of multiple debt and equity transactions. NDBIB also advised on several transactions for other group companies. These included securing exits for its sister company Emerald Sri Lanka Fund via the IPO of JAT Holdings PLC and the divestiture of its stake in Panasian Power PLC and several debt raises for NDB Bank.