StanChart Facilitates Guinness’ N10bn Commercial Paper

Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited and Standard Chartered Securities Nigeria Limited said they acted as both issuing, calculation and paying agent and as joint lead arranger respectively on the N10 billion domestic Commercial Paper (CP) issuance programme for Guinness Nigeria.

This was announced at a formal signing ceremony in Lagos recently. Attendees at the signing ceremony included representatives of the FMDQ OTC, a Securities and Exchange Commission licensed over-the-counter market operator for fixed income securities.

A statement at the weekend explained that the N10 billion CP programme represents the first CP Programme to be established by a (non-financial institution) corporate issuer following the new guidelines on commercial paper from the Central Bank of Nigeria, published in 2009.

In that regard, Guinness demonstrated its innovative approach towards executing the company’s financing strategy in an increasingly dynamic market environment.

Commenting on the transaction, the Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Bola Adesola said: “Standard Chartered is proud to have played a leading role in supporting this ground breaking Commercial Paper programme for Guinness Nigeria Plc. This first of its kind transaction, following the new CBN guidelines, creates a template for other similar transactions. We believe this is the beginning of many more opportunities to support institutional growth for our clients and the continuous development of the economy at large. This is clearly in line with our commitment to be “here for good”.

Stanbic-IBTC Capital Limited served as joint arrangers, Aluko & Oyebode acted as legal counsel while KPMG acted as auditors to the issuers.

Guinness Nigeria is a part of Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol, with an outstanding collection of brands across beer, spirits and wine categories, according to the statement.