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Egypt's fintech firm MNT-Halan closes $150m securitized bond issuance Issuance considered largest securitization in Egypt's microfinance sector, offering was 2x oversubscribed
MNT-Halan, Egypt's leading fintech player, announced on Monday that its wholly- owned subsidiary, Tasaheel, has securitized $150m of its loan book in the first issuance of a $600M program with Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt's largest private sector bank. The company indicated that the proceeds will fuel the company's accelerated growth across multiple lending business lines and MNT-Halan's expansion into new verticals. MNT-Halan is Egypt's largest non-bank lender to the un- and under-banked. The company's digital ecosystem includes small business and consumer lending, payments, and e-commerce, all of which are backed by the company's proprietary technology – Neuron. Oversubscribed by 2X, the offering reflects the high quality, diversity, and granularity of the portfolio, consisting of 137,000 contracts and a robust cash pay-back ability. Participating regional and local financial institutions included Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Al Baraka Bank, Agricultural Bank of Egypt and the Housing and Development Bank. The issuance, divided into four tranches, has been rated Prime 1 for the first three and A for the fourth by MERIS (Middle East Rating & Investor Service). Commenting on the issuance, MNT-Halan CEO Mounir Nakhla said, "We are especially pleased with the confidence that investors have placed in our company. CIB's role was instrumental. This transaction marks our first securitization and ensures our continued growth as we expect our loan book to exceed $2bn over the next couple of years." Mennan Awadallah, Head of Debt Capital Markets at CIB, added, "This transaction underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable long-term growth for the bank, our customers, and all our stakeholders. We started with Tasaheel with a $5m facility in 2016 and are proud to see how fast they have grown." CIB served as financial advisor and general arranger of the transaction, with National Bank of Egypt serving as co-financial advisor and underwriter. Arab Africa International Bank and NI Capital served as underwriters. Maatouk, Bassiouny and Hennawy served as legal advisors.
