People's Merchant raises Rs. 200 m for Ceylinco Development Bank

People's Merchant Bank PLC (PMB) recently structured and placed Rs. 200 Mn in lease backed trust certificates, on behalf of Ceylinco Development Bank (CDB).

These trust certificates are secured by a quality portfolio of leases, and their tenure ranges from three months to one year. An attractive fixed rate of interest was attached to each trust certificate, based on their tenures. Monies raised through this issue will be used to further augment CDB's fund based operations and to pursue its aggressive growth strategy.

The legal documentation for the issue was carried out by Messrs. Nithya Partners, whilst PMB are the trustees in respect of the issue. This is the second placement carried out by PMB for CDB, having raised Rs. 100 Mn through a similar issue, in May 2007.

CDB is the development banking arm of Ceylinco Consolidated, a leading business conglomerate in the country. CDB services are spread over a spectrum of financial services fee and fund based including Project financing, Business Loans, Leasing, Trade Financing/Bills Discounting, Management Consultancy services and Bancassurance.

PMB has featured prominently in debt market transactions, having structured and placed several securitisations, debenture issues and loan syndications for its clients. Key shareholders of PMB are People's Bank, DPMC Financial Services Ltd and South Bridge Capital Investments (Sri Lanka) Ltd.