Alpen Capital advising on $2bn fund-raising

Dubai-based investment bank Alpen Capital is currently advising on over $2 billion (Dh7.32bn) worth of fund-raising through both equity and debt transactions, said its executive chairman.

“We advised and raised over $1 billion in 2014 fiscal year for local and regional firms. We have a large pipeline of both equity and debt transactions which is currently to the tune of $2 billion,” Rohit Walia told Emirates 24l7.

Walia said the bank advised on the $300 million sukuk for Dubai Investments Park which was over oversubscribed 13 times, $150 million loan for India’s Jet Airways and $130 million for the Indian conglomerate Jindal Saw.

“We expect that positive momentum created by last year’s mega-announcements such as Dubai Expo 2020 and Fifa World Cup in Qatar will continue and business sentiment across GCC will remain buoyant. We expect significant government backed infrastructure projects to be rolled out, which will benefit the construction/contracting industries and will also have a ripple effect on the hospitality and retail sectors,” Walia said.

The investment bank recently opened its first office in Saudi Arabia and Walia sees significant opportunities in the kingdom for the advisory services.

Given the adequate liquidity position of the banks and investors alike, Walia sees robust activity in fund raising across different sectors, primarily led by industrial manufacturing and services, education and retail sectors.

Commenting on declining oil price impact on corporate fund raising, Alpen Capital’s Walia said any adverse decline in oil price tends to create pressure on government surplus which may potentially impact budgeted spend on projects.

“The trickling down effect of curtailed expenditure on projects can impact potential fundraising by corporates. The significant volatility resulted in a recent sell-off in the equity markets; the sustained low oil prices may impact investor confidence in the long-run and may result in corporates delaying their issuances until the oil prices stabilise,” Walia added.

Since Dubai is less dependent on oil for revenues, Walia sees minimal impact of such volatility on government-backed projects which continue so as to be ready for the Expo event in 2020.

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