AfrAsia Bank Limited - Mauritius - Corporate Banking, Private Banking and Global Business Solutions

AfrAsia Barbé Cup 2012

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

For the consecutive year, we are pleased to announce our sponsorship to one of the pinnacles of the horse racing calendar, the AfrAsia Barbe Cup scheduled this Saturday 02 June 2012.

Raced for the first time in 1902, the Barbé Cup honours Laurent Alphonse Barbé, Secretary of the Mauritius Turf Club from 1867 to 1893, year in which he died. Accountant by profession, he was also alderman of Port Louis.
He is buried in the West and in his December 6, 1893 obituary, The Merchants and Planters Gazette wrote:
"As alderman, Mr. Barbe was of great service to the city and refused to be part of any clique. He was honesty and straightforwardness personified."

The 7 sponsored races are:

AfrAsia Global Business Cup
AfrAsia Private Banking Cup
AfrAsia Private Banking Cup
AfrAsia Corporate Banking Cup
AfrAsia Titanium Credit Card Trophy
The AfrAsia Bank Barbé Cup – (Main Race)
AfrAsia Spinnaker Savings Cup

Winner of AfrAsia Barbe Cup 2012: Il Saggiatore (1.35.16s - 1600m).

Private Equity Mauritius 2012

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

AfrAsia Bank is the lead sponsor of a major flagship event for Mauritius - The ‘Private Equity Mauritius 2012’. This upcoming conference is organized by Board of Investment and is a platform for sharing professional insights on the current global economic scene, Africa’s offerings and potential and the role of Mauritius as a tried, tested and trusted platform of choice for Africa.

Most importantly, for the first time in Mauritius, we will have, JIM ROGERS, the leading investment guru and advisor as our key speaker.

Jim Rogers has been a successful hedge fund manager, investor, traveler, writer, and regular media commentator. With a career spanning over 40 years, Jim Rogers is known as an outspoken proponent of the free market and has been featured in a plethora of media outlets namely Time, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and much more.

The 2-day conference will see the participation of around 300 international and local participants including C-level Executives and Decision takers of large corporate firms, Private Equity Managers, Fund Managers, Fund Administrators, Wealth Managers, Investment Advisors, Partners of International Law firms, as well as other Financial Intermediaries and Professionals.

The conference, scheduled on 17 & 18 September 2012 will take place at the Intercontinental Mauritius Resort in Balaclava. For more information about the conference, please click here.

Like one of his sayings:

“Those who cannot adjust to change will be swept aside by it. Those who recognize change and react accordingly will benefit.” - Jim Rogers, A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons for Life and Investing

Communique

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Following the recent decrease of 50 bps in the Repo Rate, we wish to advise our customers and the public that, with effect from 21st March 2012, the Bank's Prime Lending Rate (PLR) will be set at 7.40% p.a.

The Bank's savings rate will be at 3.40% p.a.

We are pleased to advise that we are paying up to 4.40% p.a. on our SPINNAKER SAVINGS * Account.

Interest on all our Savings Accounts are paid on a monthly basis.

For further information, please call on 208 5500 or email us at afrasia@afrasiabank.com

Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2012

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The 2012 Euromoney Private Banking Survey has awarded AfrAsia Bank two awards for private banking services, the most prominent being the ‘Best Local Private Bank in Mauritius’ and the other as ‘Best Private Bank for the super affluent in Mauritius’. The award ceremony and gala dinner were held on 16 February and attended by Thierry Vallet, Head of Private Banking and Strategic Development.

In the annual survey by leading financial magazine Euromoney, banks themselves vote on what they consider the best service provider in private banking for various categories."We thank Euromoney and our peers for this award being a local and international recognition for our continuous effort to always putting our clients' interest first through an open architecture investment approach, and providing best of breed products in private banking and asset management. Our goal is to expand regionally, seeking to be closer to our clients and serve them better," said James Benoit, AfrAsia Bank CEO.

After 4 years of operations, AfrAsia Bank is pursuing its growth strategy with great ambition and enthusiasm in Mauritius and internationally. The Bank has been expanding in various regions for the past years establishing three representative offices in South Africa, and setting up capital investment structures in Singapore, India and Australia to facilitate money flows into Africa. The commitment of the Bank to grow in the region was further demonstrated by its increased stake in AfrAsia Corporate Finance, its investment arm based in Cape Town, South Africa. With the latest acquisition of a 35% stake in Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited in Zimbabwe, AfrAsia Bank continue to serve the dynamic Africa-Asia trade and investment corridor, in which Mauritius plays a vital role as a regional financial and logistics hub.

“We are very proud of this achievement and the recognition from our peers. These awards stand as testament to AfrAsia Bank's commitment to building and maintaining collaborative and privileged relationships with our clients and providing sound wealth management solutions tailored to suit their individual, as well as family, wealth legacy aspirations," added Thierry Vallet.

The Bank was engaged in January 2012 in a successful capital raising exercise, being a further vote of confidence from existing shareholders, who believed in the Bank’s vision and strategies right from the start, and from new investors who have examined the Bank’s track record and are excited by growth prospects. The new capital brings its total regulatory capital (TIER1 and TIER2) to nearly Rs2.0 billion and positions the Bank to continue its profitable growth locally as well as its regional expansion strategy.

Expansion on the African Continent

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

AfrAsia Bank Limited (“ABL” or “the Bank”) has announced an increase of MUR476m in its Tier 1 capital base, taking the bank’s regulatory capital to nearly MUR2.0 billion. The issue was subscribed for by a combination of existing shareholders and new institutional and high net worth investors. The Bank has also sold options to a major European private equity fund that provide the fund with the right to subscribe for an additional MUR300m of equity before 31 May 2012.

The main purpose of this capital raising is to sustain and fund the growth of the Bank as it expands in both the domestic market and regionally. James Benoit, ABL’s Chief Executive Officer commented “The current capital increase is another vote of confidence from our existing shareholders, who have believed in our vision and strategies from the start, and from new investors who have examined the track record of the Bank and are excited by our growth prospects. This new capital will take our total regulatory capital (TIER1 and TIER2) to nearly Rs2.0 billion and positions us to continue our profitable growth in our home market of Mauritius as well as to start to execute on our strategy of regional expansion.

ABL has a well-defined strategy to expand its operations in the SADC and COMESA regions, both organically and through carefully selected acquisition opportunities. Any acquisition by ABL must fit a rigorous set of criteria that incorporates valuation, operational profile, strength of existing domestic operations and the ability for ABL to exercise control, either directly or in partnership with other key shareholders.

In line with this expansion strategy, ABL has also announced an investment of USD 9.5m for a 35% stake in Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited (“KFHL”), an investment holding company domiciled in Zimbabwe with interests in the banking, stockbroking and asset management sectors in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

KFHL has a focused and resilient business model as evidenced by its impressive financial performance over the past decade, despite the challenging economic environment in Zimbabwe over this time. The investment by ABL is an endorsement of this business model, which is underpinned by innovative products; a strong management team; best in class IT systems; and close relationships with clients. These characteristics are all shared with ABL and the alignment of business models was a key attraction of the transaction for ABL.

Arnaud Lagesse, Chairman of ABL, outlined how the transaction was consistent with ABL’s strategy for regional expansion. He said “KFHL is a profitable financial services group in the high growth southern African market. The transaction is highly accretive for ABL, but also provides us with a unique opportunity to expand our franchise in the SADC region through an established local operation and with highly credible local partners.”

The founder and current anchor shareholder of Kingdom, Nigel Chanakira, said "this transaction will open new channels of much needed capital, lines of credit and deal flow for our loyal client base. I am excited about the prospects beckoning on our horizon."

Kamben Padayachy, General Manager and Head of Global Banking, Treasury and Markets for ABL highlighted the potential returns of the transaction, as well as the careful structuring of the deal to minimize the risk for ABL. “This exceptional investment opportunity has the potential for high rewards in a largely undeveloped market. The proposed transaction structure will enable ABL to appropriately mitigate inherent risks to ensure that the full benefits of the transaction are obtained.”

AfrAsia Corporate Finance acted as Exclusive Arranger for the capital raising and as sole transaction adviser to ABL and co-adviser to KFHL on the KFHL investment. Cosmos Capital acted as co-adviser to KFHL with regards to the investment by ABL.