NDB Investment Bank Limited in collaboration with National Development Bank PLC conducted a knowledge sharing session recently, in providing a holistic view on alternate sources of funding.
The Forum focused on assisting local businesses including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to navigate and financially transform their businesses towards the next phase of growth through such funding.
The forum, which was hosted in a hybrid form with participants attending physically as well virtually, was received with much interest with over 400 participants in total.
The forum was launched as a convenient platform to provide insights and solutions to the major challenges faced by entrepreneurs and other corporate businesses whilst addressing and highlighting the importance of the key areas in investment banking such as forms of Debt Financing, Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
The forum featured an engaging panel discussion followed by an interactive Q & A session. The Panel comprised Renuke Wijayawardhane, Chief Regulatory Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Jayantha Rajapakse, Chairman Uni Power subsidiary of CIC Holdings PLC, Dimantha Seneviratne, Director and Group CEO of NDB Bank, Senaka Kakiriwaragodage, CEO of NDB Capital Holdings Limited, Darshan Perera, CEO of NDB Investment Bank Limited and Indika Ranaweera, Vice President SME Middle Market and Business Banking of NDB Bank.
The Q&A was moderated by Nilendra Weerasinghe, Head of Corporate Advisory of NDB Investment Bank whilst the presentation on Financial Options was done by Vindhya Jayasekara Vice President of NDB Wealth Management Limited.
Speaking at the Forum, Dimantha Seneviratne, Director and Group CEO stated that the timing of empowering SMEs could not be more relevant.
As the global economy is on a recovery from the effects of the pandemic, SMEs play a critical role in that process. Banks and other financing institutions have a tremendous responsibility in supporting and empowering SMEs with not just financing but also with knowledge on the various options.
Darshan Perera, Chief Executive Officer of NDB Investment Bank Ltd highlighted that companies should actively consider IPOs for many other reasons other than having exhausted their borrowing capacities.
Senaka Kakiriwaragodage, Chief Executive Officer of NDB Capital Holdings Ltd, identified the scalability of a business, coach ability of the management and presence of sound governance systems as key attributes that make a company attractive to a Private Equity investor.
Renuke Wijayawardhane, Chief Regulatory Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange stated that CSE is geared to support and incentivize those who seek financing options through the CSE.
Jayantha Rajapakse, Chairman Uni-Power praised NDB Investment Bank for its excellent support and guidance extended in transforming Uni-Power into a high growth venture with the acquisition by CIC Holdings PLC.
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