Standard Chartered Bangladesh has raised Tk 160 crore for RajLanka Power Company Ltd, a subsidiary of LTL Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, to help the electricity producer refinance its existing preference shares to reduce overall cost.

RajLanka owns and operates a 53-megawatt heavy fuel oil-fired independent power plant in Natore.

This is the first preference share transaction arranged by Standard Chartered Bangladesh. The closing ceremony took place at the Westin Dhaka hotel. The facility is also known as the non-convertible redeemable cumulative preference share, the bank said in a statement.

There has been a diverse mix of investments in the transaction from banks, non-banking financial institutions and corporates, which testifies to StanChart's strong relationship with investors from all segments and issuer's strong business fundamentals and reputation, the bank said.

At the event, UD Jayawardana, CEO of LTL Holdings, thanked StanChart for facilitating the transaction which will help the company expand its business in Bangladesh.

Abrar A Anwar, CEO of the bank, said: “We are delighted to be the mandated lead arranger for this landmark transaction. As a committed partner in progress to the nation, we strive to bring in innovative products to the market.”

Standard Chartered is leading the debt capital market in Bangladesh. Since pioneering the market in 1997, the bank's capital market unit has arranged local and foreign currency funding of over $6.5 billion for sectors such as power, telecom, infrastructure, food, beverage, textile and services.

The bank has arranged about 70 percent of the total syndicated debt raised in the market in the last 15 years.

MJMN Marikkar, managing director of Raj Lanka Power, also spoke.