The largest private sector bank in Egypt, Commercial International Bank (CIB), has announced that Tasaheel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Egyptian fintech giant MNT-Halan, has securitized about US$150 million of its loan book as part of the first issuance in a US$600 million program.
Through its consumer-facing app, merchant app, distributed loan and payment processing software, and payment solutions, the firm links customers, vendors, and micro-enterprises. It also provides services like ride-hailing and logistics.
The offering was two times oversubscribed, demonstrating the “excellent quality, diversity, and granularity” of MNT portfolio, Halan’s which includes 137,000 contracts and a strong cash pay-back capability.
The Housing and Development Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Al Baraka Bank, Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank were among the regional and local financial institutions that participated.
Middle East Rating and Investor Service has assigned the four tranches of the issuance a Prime 1 rating for the first three and an A rating for the fourth (MERIS).
The earnings will support MNT-entry Halan’s into new verticals and the company’s increased growth throughout its various loan business lines.
“We are extremely happy about the trust investors have shown in our business. The function of CIB was essential. Our first securitization with this deal guarantees our long-term expansion as we anticipate our loan book to surpass $2 billion over the coming few years.
According to MNT-Halan CEO Mounir Nakhla, this will be driven by our digital strategy, which will take advantage of synergies and expand into new verticals.
MNT-Halan, which started out in 2018 as a ride-hailing app for two- and three-wheeled vehicles, has evolved into a kind of super app and has since grown to be Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked.