The Nigerian economy is in recovery mode. Hitherto moribund companies especially in sectors such as healthcare & pharmaceuticals are coming back to live. Nigerian entrepreneurs are coming across a lot of business opportunities in different sectors of the economy i.e. Upstream Oil & Gas, Power, etc. This development is giving rise, on daily basis, to formation of joint ventures with either fellow Nigerians and / or foreign technical partners.

The immediate need thereafter is usually the need to raise substantial amount of capital to fund one or more of the following needs:
Plant refurbishment / capacity enhancement
Acquisition of Initial Plant and Equipment for new ventures
Refinance of short term loans to Longer term debts or capital
Working capital

The Investment Banking Group is positioned to assist companies with FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES and to facilitate their access to long - term capital either locally or off – shore. Long term capital as we all know can be either EQUITY / SEMI – EQUITY or DEBT (Interest bearing).
EQUITY CAPITAL
Companies can raise equity capital through Private Placement, Rights Offer or Public Offer for Subscription. The bank is registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) as Issuing House, Underwriter and Receiving Banker to perform all capital market related functions including public offer of shares on The Nigerian Stock Exchange.

DEBT CAPITAL
Companies can also use Long Term Debt to finance projects. Long term debt finance can be raised locally by Syndication where the amount involved is large or beyond what a single bank (i.e. Skye Bank) is willing to commit to a project.

Public limited liability companies can also raise Long – term debt capital through issuance of “Redeemable / Convertible Debentures” to the public through the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

Foreign Loans : For the importation of plant and machinery, it is usually possible to obtain long term loan from the exporting country’s EXIM Bank in foreign currency i.e. US Exim Bank for goods manufactured in the USA, China Exim Bank for Chinese goods, etc. The advantage of this type of loan over local loans is that it usually comes with sufficient moratorium period, for longer tenor of repayment and at lower interest rates. The other side is that the business must be able to generate sufficient cash - flow to absorb adverse exchange rate fluctuation or generate substantial revenue in foreign currency to repay the loan.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS
For Equity and Local Debt finance, the basic requirements are:
Existing Companies :
Memorandum & Articles of Association
Certificate of Incorporation
Profile of Directors & Management
Audited Financial Statements for a minimum of three years.
Write up on the expansion project
Financial Projections

New Companies :
Memorandum & Articles of Association
Certificate of Incorporation
Profile of Directors & Management
Technical Partnership Agreement and / or Joint Venture Agreement
Feasibility Studies Report on Proposed Project
Financial Projections

Other documentation to meet the requirements of SEC and NSE would depend on how far these basic requirements have been met and can be discussed on case – by- case with each company in our capacity as the Financial Advisers and Issuing House

Additional Requirement for Overseas Exim Bank Facilities
The exporter must be a recognized exporter in its country
The exporter’s bank or a bank must be ready to provide a loan against the Exim Bank Guarantee
Guarantee of the Importer’s bank i.e Skye Bank guarantee on behalf of its customer