NDBIB MAINTAINS STATUS AS SRI LANKA'S BEST INVESTMENT BANK FOR A DECADE

NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) secured the coveted award for ‘Sri Lanka’s Best Investment Bank’ for the 10th consecutive year from the highly acclaimed Euromoney magazine in its Country and Regional Awards for Excellence 2021. Thus, NDBIB affirms its dominance as the market leader for investment banking in Sri Lanka.

“Being crowned as the best for ten consecutive years has been one of the proudest moments for everyone at NDBIB,” said Darshan Perera, Chief Executive of NDBIB. “We have been steadfast in our quest for innovation, and it is great to witness this being recognised repeatedly by Euromoney. We like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed clientele who have placed their trust and been with us through this journey,” he said.

NDBIB recorded a laudable performance in 2020. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the investment bank remained active across all business verticals maintaining its stature as the market leader and preferred investment bank for capital raising and M&A advisory. It executed capital raising transactions totalling Rs37.4 billion during the year via equity, debt, and hybrid instruments. NDBIB also managed numerous strategic M&A transactions despite the pandemic-related economic challenges and multiple lockdowns in Sri Lanka.

NDBIB experienced heightened activity on the M&A front, having advised on four M&A transactions in the food and beverage, travel and leisure sectors. A notable transaction was the divestiture of Sri Lanka’s market-leading confectioner Daintee Limited to Sunshine Holdings PLC. It was the first transaction in the immediate aftermath of the first country-wide lockdown due to Covid-19. NDBIB was the exclusive financial advisor to the divesting shareholders.

“This award speaks volumes for the great lengths we go to ensure the highest quality of standards and service that we maintain in all our transactions,” Kaushini Laksumanage, COO of NDBIB, said. “We take great pride in being recognised by Euromoney for the tenth consecutive year, mainly due to our deep and diverse expertise and a quest for continuous innovation,” she said, reiterating the significance of the achievement amidst volatile market conditions, particularly during a year with multiple disruptions to business continuity due to lockdowns in the country.

NDBIB’s advisory expertise was also sought by SDB Bank to raise Rs1.5 billion which was executed as the first stage of a three-year capital augmentation plan. The transaction was launched and concluded solely via an online platform at the height of the pandemic, the firstever fully digitalized fund raising on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

NDBIB identified an opportunity to play a role of national importance by leading efforts to usher foreign currency inflows to the country by way of equity and debt fund raisings. In doing so, NDBIB successfully raised funding to the tune of $130 million in both equity and debt forms for Sri Lankan entities from offshore financiers. This includes the landmark $15 million equity investment by Norfund to NDB Bank and a $35 million foreign fund raising for a state-owned bank.

“The most significant aspect of winning a prestigious award for a decade is the underlying consistency,” Nilendra Weerasinghe, Head of Corporate Advisory, pointed out. “It is such consistency that enables success during a globally challenging year. We also look at advanced regional markets and their market participants to improve our processes and ensure we continue to add value to our clients” he said.

In addition to NDBIB being named “Sri Lanka’s Best Investment Bank” for the tenth consecutive year by Euromoney, it also secured the “Best Corporate and Investment Bank” award by Asiamoney Awards for five consecutive years.

NDBIB maintains an unrivalled market position in capital raising and M&A activity in Sri Lanka and Maldives, whilst witnessing heightened levels of activity in its investment banking operation in Bangladesh as well. NDBIB expects 2021 to be a year where record levels of activity could be witnessed both on the equity and capital raising fronts, thereby assisting clients to achieve growth and deliver value to their shareholders.

NDBIB is the investment banking subsidiary of NDB Capital Holdings, the largest full-service investment banking group in the country holding a complementary business portfolio consisting of fee-based and fund-based investment banking, wealth management, managing private equity and stockbroking. NDB Capital Holdings is a subsidiary of National Development Bank PLC, one of the fastest growing banks in Sri Lanka, which was awarded as the ‘Bank of the Year, Sri Lanka’ by The Banker Magazine of UK and also the ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ by Global Finance Magazine of USA.