TheCable

Lekki Gardens Estates Limited, Nigeria’s foremost real estate investment company, has signed the Twenty-Five Billion Naira (N25bn) Commercial Paper approved for the company by the FMDQ Security Exchange Limited (FMDQ Exchange). The signing ceremony was held on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, at the company’s corporate head office in Banana Island, Lagos.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer, Lekki Gardens Estates Limited, Dr. Richard Nyong, described the approval for the registration of the Commercial Paper Issuance programme by FMDQ Exchange on its platform as a big step for the company, which he believes would help to deepen its market offering to customers and unlock value for all stakeholders.

The signing ceremony was attended by all the professional parties in the transaction, including Boston Advisory Limited, who acted as the Arranger/Dealer/Issuer and Paying Agent; United Capital Trustees Limited as the Trustees; Keystone Bank as Paying and Collecting Agent; SIAO as Auditors and TOLG as Solicitors.

On the significance of the transaction to the company, Nyong said, “This is beyond a milestone for us. It is a blessing to be here. Six years ago, we had such an incident that everyone felt we would never come back from it. Seeing our business reach this point where there is a huge market acceptance for us up to the market to raise funding is a very significant validation”.

“Real estate is very local; it is a matter of choice for the customers. This type of funding helps us assist our customers with pseudo-mortgage support. And it helps our business to strengthen the delivery system that we already have ongoing. That is the key thing we are trying to do- making our business stronger, more solid, and strategic in its ability to deliver to our esteemed customers,” he added.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Managing Director, Boston Advisory Limited, Mr. Rotimi Balogun, described the Commercial Paper for Lekki Gardens as a step in the right direction as it would help enhance the process of bridging the housing gap in Nigeria.

“The housing deficit in Nigeria is estimated at about 17 million. The question is, how do you begin to bridge that gap? It is by taking baby steps like we did today. Also, supporting the market, and one thing that is missing in the game is the private sector. Lekki Gardens having access to good funding for housing delivery is amongst the little things we can do to support the housing deficit and bridge the gap,” he said.

In her remarks, the Executive Director, Corporate Services and Business Support, Mrs. Emily Atebe, said, “Today represents a significant milestone for Lekki Gardens in our commitment to enabling the most significant number of people to make the most value of their property and property-related investments and in the process contribute to closing the critical housing gap. Funding is crucial in real estate development. What we are doing today is in line with our plans to efficiently diversify our funding sources to ensure steady and sustained financing to meet our commitments.

FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (“FMDQ Exchange” or “the Exchange”), the leading organizer for the Nigerian debt capital market (DCM), through its Board Listings and Markets Committee, on the 16th of June 2022, approved the registration of the Lekki Gardens Limited ₦25.00 billion Commercial Paper (CP) Programme on its platform.

The registration of this CP Programme strategically positions Lekki Gardens Estates Limited to raise short-term finance from the Nigerian DCM through CP issuances under the Programme that will be quoted on the FMDQ Exchange and admitted for trading.