Signing ceremony was held here to mark the financial close of Rs 13,000 million multiple syndicated facilities arranged by Allied Bank for Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCFL).
The ceremony was attended by Mohammad Aftab Manzoor, CEO, Allied Bank and Tariq Sayeed Saigol, Chairman, MLCFL. Also present on the occasion were Jawaid Iqbal, Group Head, Corporate and Investment Banking Group, Allied Bank, and Bushra Naz Malik, CFO, MLCFL.
Allied Bank was mandated by Maple Leaf Cement Factory as Financial Advisor and Lead Arranger for Multiple Facilities totalling Rs 13,000 million which, besides being the largest ever financing to a cement company in Pakistan, is also the largest financing arranged solely by any investment bank in Pakistan.
To fully capitalise on the domestic market conditions, Allied Bank designed a custom-made transaction structure for Balance Sheet Restructuring and Debt Re-Profiling for Maple Leaf Cement. The transaction structure provided the Company with substantial savings in its financial costs along with easing out its immediate debt burden. The financing facilities comprise an Rs 8,000 million Sukuk issue, Rs 2,500 million PPTFC issue and a Rs 2,500 million Syndicated Term Finance Facility. These facilities comprised of commercial banks, development financial institutions and asset management companies.
Aftab Manzoor, CEO, Allied Bank said: "The uniqueness of this transaction is the broad based portfolio of lenders and investors which include commercial and Islamic banks, developmental financial institutions, asset management companies and securities firms," and added that the purpose of such a broad based lender portfolio was to diversify and strengthen Maple Leaf's relationship with not only its existing lenders, but to also create relationships with new lenders and investors.
Tariq Sayeed thanked Allied Bank for its efforts in arranging the multiple facilities and said: "Maple Leaf Cement is proud of its association with Allied Bank and we hope that the relationship would develop to new heights"-PR