Ithmaar Bank, a prominent publicly quoted investment bank based in Bahrain, announced today a private placement offer of 89 million shares in First Leasing Bank (FLB).
The offer aims to raise the capital of First Leasing Bank to a total of US$100 million.
Ithmaar Bank is the placement manager, financial advisor and lead underwriter for the share offer, which is set to close on 21 November 2006.
Each share carries a nominal value of US$1, while the offer price is US$1.05, with a minimum investment requirement of 1 million shares (worth US$1.05 million).
Established in 2004 with a paid-up capital of US$10 million, FLB is the first bank in Bahrain dedicated exclusively to the introduction and expansion of equipment leasing throughout the GCC region. The Bank provides finance and operating leases for most asset classes, including industrial, manufacturing, medical, printing and publishing, construction, telecommunications, IT, transportation and marine.
“Ithmaar bank is delighted to bring this investment opportunity to the market,” said Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Managing Director, Private Banking, at Ithmaar Bank.
For investors with a medium to long term outlook, FLB offers a unique window of opportunity for investing in the potentially high growth area of leasing, he said.
Mr. James Cracco, Chief Executive Officer of FLB, said the GCC equipment leasing market is currently estimated at US$10 billion a year and expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.
To date, FLB has funded US$30 million in leasing, including industrial, fleets of cars, printing, power generation, construction and telecommunications equipment. “Our business plan is to combine the stable market offered by equipment leasing with the higher returns of the real estate leasing market,” said Mr. Cracco.
Of the new capital raised, two-thirds would be used for expanding FLB’s equipment leasing business, while the remainder would be invested in real estate leasing opportunities.
“Our business model of building and holding a portfolio has served FLB well. We intend to continue our successful strategy of aggressively pursuing compelling opportunities that will help build shareholder value,” said Mr. Cracco.
“Going forward, we intend to expand our horizon beyond the GCC region to the US market. The US is a mature equipment leasing market, which will provide portfolio diversity and balance to our GCC home market.”
