CI Capital (CICH.CA) — the leading diversified financial services group — announced on Wednesday the successful conclusion of its first securitised bond issuance worth EGP 202m for Blnk Consumer Finance as part of a three-year programme with a total value of EGP 2bn. The issuance comes in three tranches, the first valued at EGP 62.2m with a tenure of six months at a P1 rating from Middle East Ratings and Investor Services (MERIS) — the highest credit rating. The second tranche is valued at EGP 64.8m with a tenure of a year and has a P1 rating as well. The third tranche is valued at EGP 75m, has a tenure of 34 months, and a credit rating of A. As part of the announcement, Blnk's Co-Founder and CEO Amr Sultan stated: "The issuance's success at an early stage in the company's lifecycle is a great milestone. The capital raised will further the achievement of our expansion plans by increasing our client base, enhancing our service offerings, and growing our merchant network." "The high demand for the issuance is a testament to investor's positive outlook for Blnk's market position, solid balance sheet, and innovative and technology-driven consumer finance solutions." For his part, Amr Helal — Sell-Side CEO of the Investment Bank at CI Capital — said: "The conclusion of the third issuance by the company's investment banking team in a short timespan underscores the company's capabilities in executive high-profile transactions and further cements our market leadership." Khalil Al-Bawab — Chairperson of Misr Capital Fixed Income Brokerage, a CI Capital Holding Subsidiary — added: "New entrants into the debt capital market, especially those from emerging industries such as fintech, have the ability to spur the market towards attracting other players from untapped sectors, which will in turn vitalise both primary and secondary bond markets." Additionally, Mohamed Abbas — Head of DCM at CI Capital — stated: "This issuance highlights the opportunity that even newly established companies can tap into debt issuances to generate the necessary liquidity needed to develop their operations and expand their business. This issuance will initiate a wave of new issuers to the market and generate wider awareness about debt issuances as an available and effective financing tool." This marks the third issuance concluded by CI Capital since the beginning of October after the successful conclusion of two securitisation bond issuances on behalf of Tamweel Securitisation — the originator of Tamweel Mortgage's Portfolio — and GlobalCorp Securitisation — the originator of GlobalCorp Financial Services' Portfolio — with an aggregate value of EGP 2.882bn The National Bank of Egypt and Banque Du Caire acted as the issuance's underwriters, Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy as legal counsel, Baker Tilly Hilal & Abdel Ghaffar as auditors, the Egyptian Company for Securitisation as issuers, and Banque Misr acted as custodian and the subscription reception entity.
