Lotus Capital wins ‘African Deal of the Year’ award

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

Lotus capital, foremost Halal investment management firm, has won the prestigious 2013 Islamic Finance News (IFN) award which took place at the Unitedn Arab Emirate, last week.

According a statement from the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Lotus Capital won the Africa Deal of the Year category as the Lead Issuing House for the N11.4bn Osun State Sukuk issue which was listed on the NSE in September 2013.

This was the first ever sub-sovereign Sukuk in Africa. The issue was oversubscribed by about 20% which was a positive confirmation of the trust and confidence the market placed on the offer.

The Osun State Government, represented by the Honourable Commissioner of Finance, and the Solicitors to the Issue, Kola Awodein and Co, were also award recipients for the deal.

Close to 400 transactions were nominated for 2013 in over 30 categories in the IFN Awards Deal of the Year, signifying a 33% rise in the number of nominations and a 20% increase in categories over the previous year.

Mrs Taba Peterside General Manager, Listings Sales and Retention, who represented the NSE at the event in Dubai, said “The NSE is focused on broadening investor choice by introducing a variety of new products to the market” We are therefore delighted that Lotus Capital has been recognised with this prestigious award in structuring the first sub-sovereign African listed Sukuk. Lotus also developed our first Islamic Index on the NSE and we look forward to a continued fruitful partnership with them” It will be recalled that Lotus Capital Limited had partnered the NSE in July 2012 for the development and management of a certified Shari’ah compliant Index known as the “NSE Lotus Islamic Index” or NSE

LII. The index consists of companies in conformity with the principles of Shari’ah and was the first index created to track the performance of Shari’ah compliant equities on the floor of the bourse. Investment instruments like Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are expected to be built on the Index which ethically minded investors, both in Nigeria and overseas can invest in. The Index recorded +44.21% in 2012 (NSE ASI: +35.45% same year) and +61.84% in 2013 (NSE ASI: +47.19% same year)