The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Rand Merchant Bank (RMD) and Chapel Hill Denham (CHD) as financial advisers for its proposed demutualisation programme.
Demutualisation is a process whereby stock exchanges transform into Public Limited Liability Companies, and by implication, a profit-making organisation listed on itself and any other exchange around the world.
RMB is the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand, one of Africa’s largest listed financial services groups.
Chapel Hill Denham is a leading Nigerian investment bank that provides financial advisory services to domestic and international corporations, institutions, governments and individual clients, investing in Africa.
A statement by the NSE said that the appointment followed a very rigorous and extensive selection process.
It said that the selection began with a Request for Proposal (RFP) process which started on March 11, 2014 where qualified financial consortia were required to submit expressions of interest (EOI).
It said that potential financial advisors (FAs) were required to express their interests as a consortium of one international and one Nigerian investment bank.
The statement said that 13 proposals were received at the close of deadline for EOI, adding that the proposals were reviewed extensively by the NSE.
“After a round of presentations, only three consortia progressed to the final stage which was aimed at picking the most competent consortium and extracting the best value for NSE,’’ said the statement.
The statement quoted Mr Oscar Onyema, NSE Chief Executive, as saying that the appointment affirmed commitment to achieving the demutualisation of the NSE in a methodical and transparent fashion.
It said the step was pivotal to a professional and successful conversion of the exchange from a member-owned mutual organisation to shareholder-owned public limited liability company that aligns with global best practices.
It added that the interest of all members would be protected in the demutualisation exercise.
“We have implemented a number of initiatives to strengthen and improve governance at the exchange. This demutualisation process will contribute to the sustenance and enhancement of our governance,’’ the statement said.
It commended the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for creating the appropriate framework that would engender a more open, transparent and credible exchange.
It said that Mr Michael Larbie, Chief Executive Officer, RMB Nigeria and Regional Head for West Africa, expressed the company’s readiness to assist the NSE with the demutualisation exercise.
“We believe demutualisation will further strengthen the NSE’s position as a leading exchange in Africa,’’ the statement quoted Larbie as saying. “We intend to leverage our deep advisory and structuring expertise and in-depth understanding of the global market structure and broker dealer sector to support the process.”
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