Green Delta Capital arranges $15m loan for LankaBangla from Swiss impact investor

LankaBangla Finance Limited, one of the leading NBFIs in Bangladesh, has received a loan of $15 million from BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund managed by a Switzerland based impact fund manager BlueOrchard Finance Limited. 

The transaction has been arranged by local investment bank Green Delta Capital Limited, which is also acting as the security agent on behalf of BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund in this transaction, according to a statement by Green Delta Capital. 

This is the second cross border debt transaction for LankaBangla after it received its maiden foreign funding of $20 million in 2019 from Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector. 

BlueOrchard seeks to contribute to economic, environmental, and social development and to improve access to financial services to those at the bottom of the pyramid as well as small and medium enterprises, mainly in emerging markets. 

For BlueOrchard, this is their first entry to the Bangladesh market and LankaBangla is the first Bangladeshi recipient institution of their financing. 

The loan proceeds will be utilised to cater to the financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and green and sustainable projects as LankaBangla will focus on assisting SMEs to recover from the effects of pandemic.

It would be a great help for them to expand their businesses and create new jobs so that the economic development takes place post pandemic.

Normunds Mizis, chief credit officer of BlueOrchard Finance, said, "It has been a great pleasure to execute transaction in Bangladesh with LankaBangla Finance Limited – one of the leading financial institutions in the country for the benefit of SME sector in the country – and thus contribute towards economic development and employment. BlueOrchard Finance will continue to support financial institutions catering to the needs of micro, small and medium businesses and to economic, environmental and social development more broadly."  

Khwaja Shahriar, managing director & CEO of LankaBangla Finance Limited, said, "Obtaining foreign currency loans is a part of our corporate strategy to widen the borrowing mix, which will definitely help us to arrest our cost of funds to some extent. As we've received the fund at a competitive rate of interest, we will be able to shift the same benefit to our end-clients, especially SMEs and emerging sectors."  

Md Rafiqul Islam, managing director & CEO of Green Delta Capital, said Green Delta Capital Limited has always been enthusiastic about reaching newer heights and it has brought BlueOrchard on board for the first time ever in Bangladesh where entire due-diligence were done digitally.

He also said that Investment in LankaBangla from investors like Blue Orchard will also help to unlock more foreign financing in Bangladesh.