Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC ("Singer", "Company") Debenture issue of Rs. 3.0 Billion was successfully concluded recently. Agora Securities Private Limited and NDB Investment Bank Limited acted as Joint Financial Advisors and Managers to the issue. The Issue was oversubscribed and was closed on the same day. Singer decided to exercise the option to accept a further 10 Million debentures (Rs. 1,000 Million) in addition to the initial issue of 20 Million debentures (Rs. 2,000 Million) as there was strong demand for the issue, mostly from Institutional Investors.
Singer issued two types of Rated Unsecured Redeemable Senior Debentures with the option of a fixed or floating interest rate payable semi-annually with a tenor of three (3) years. The debentures are rated "A- (lka)" by Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited and will be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The Company proposes to utilize the entire proceeds of the debenture issue to finance its working capital requirements,to finance a three year senior, listed, unsecured, rated, redeemable debenture issuedue in May 2015, and to finance the senior, unlisted, unsecured, rated, redeemable debentures maturing in the months of May, July, and September. The proceeds from the debenture will also be utilised to finance US$ loan of the Company maturing in 2015.
Asoka Pieris, Group Chief Executive Officer of Singer, commenting on the very successful debenture issue stated "We are very happy with the continued trust on SINGER both by the public and by the Investor community. This is the second debenture issue within a span of five months, and both issues were oversubscribed on the opening day itself."
Agora Securities (Pvt) Limited is a debt capital market specialist with a solid track record of fund raising for a range of premier Sri Lankan corporates.
NDB Investment Bank Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of NDB Capital Holdings PLC, which is a subsidiary of National Development Bank PLC, providing full-service investment banking services to its diverse clientele.
Courtesy: The Island 10 June 2015