The critical role which debt markets play in facilitating sustainable growth and development cannot be overemphasised. The Nigeria debt market capital (DCM) plays an important role in the efficient mobilisation and allocation of resources in the economy and despite the impact of the current times, the market has continued to effectively support corporates looking to expand their business operations. It is in this regard that FMDQ Holdings PLC (FMDQ Group or FMDQ) in its role as a market organiser of the Nigerian DCM, amongst others, has continued to provide stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market with a credible and robust platform for capital access, risk management and transfer of value.
Consequently, FMDQ, through its subsidiary, FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (FMDQ Exchange or the Exchange), admitted for listing on its platform, the Axxela Funding 1 PLC ₦11.50 billion Series 1 Bond under its ₦50.00 billion Bond Programme (the Axxela Bond). Axxela Funding 1 PLC is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) incorporated by Axxela Limited to raise funds through the issuance of debt securities in the domestic capital market. Axxela Limited, owned by Helios Investment Partners, is a natural gas shipping company on the West African Gas Pipeline, providing unique energy solutions with presence in Nigeria and gas export operations in neighbouring West African countries.
The admittance of the Axxela bond is testament to the opportunities which the DCM avails to corporates in diverse business areas and further, to the potential of the market to support stakeholders effectively even as they carry on their activities in the face of the pandemic. The Axxela bond, by its listing on FMDQ, shall be admitted onto the FMDQ Daily Quotations List; thus, promoting the much-needed transparency for investors and providing a credible basis for portfolio valuation daily. Also, through the global visibility which the FMDQ website and systems guarantee, the corporate profile of the issuer is raised even further ahead of tapping into other opportunities in the Nigerian capital market.
FMDQ Group is Africa’s first vertically integrated financial market infrastructure (FMI) group which provides a one-stop platform for the seamless and cost-efficient execution, risk management, clearing, settlement, depository and data and information services for the Nigerian financial market, through its subsidiaries – FMDQ Exchange, FMDQ Clear Limited, FMDQ Depository Limited and FMDQ Private Markets Limited.