Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) founded in 1993, has announced plans in a recent prospectus for a public offering of up to 20 percent of the company through primary and secondary offerings in Mexico and international markets. According to estimates on CNNMoney.com, the offering will raise up to 3.26 billion Mexican pesos or equivalent USD 305.6 million through the sale of 136 million shares which includes a provisional over-allotment of 17.7 million shares. Financiera Independencia will use net proceeds from the primary offering to fund new lending, expand its branch network, and for other corporate development initiatives.
Search Results for: Compartamos
NEWS WIRE: Mexico: Microfinance Institution Independencia Plans IPO This Year
MICROFINANCE EVENT: “Microfinance Dialogue: The Next Decade” at Tufts’ Fletcher School
MICROFINANCE DIALOGUE: THE NEXT DECADE
NOVEMBER 2, 2007 – MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, USA
Quite a few top thinkers in the industry will be on hand at the Fletcher School to state their positions and engage in discussion with the audience. Topics are to include:
Microfinance and the Capital Markets – Who Benefits?
What is the impact of commercial financing on microfinance? Who benefits – customers, investors, the local economy or the public at large? What is an appropriate role for policy in mediating microfinance, if any?
Microfinance and Soft Money – What Is It’s Best Use?
CGAP Releases List of Recent Microfinance Publications
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) today issued this list of publications recently posted on its website:
MFI Capital Structure Decision Making: A Call for Greater Awareness
CGAP
Microfinance: An Emerging Asset Class for Equity and Debt Investors
MicroCapital
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Ethical Corporation Hosts Sustainable Finance Summit 2007 in London, Promotes Microfinance as Promising and Profitable Market
The Sustainable Finance Summit 2007 took place in London yesterday and today (September 18-19). The event was hosted by Ethical Corporation, an independent publisher, conference organizer, and outspoken advocate of responsible business practices worldwide. One of the topics covered at the summit was “Tapping into the £300 billion microfinance market.” Day one of the conference, Head of Global Microfinance at Citigroup, Robert Annibale presented a case study on Citigroup Global Microfinance’s joint venture with Compartamos, a partnership that won the FT Sustainable Deal of the Year award 2006.
PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance: An Emerging Asset Class for Equity and Debt Investors, by Marco Coppoolse
By Marco Coppoolse. A White Paper Published by Microcapital in August 2007. 10 pages. Available at www.microcapital.org/downloads/whitepapers/Emerging.pdf
Mr Coppoolse supports the nascent microfinance asset class in two ways with his whitepaper, which was published by MicroCapital today. First he shows the strength and potential of the sector with some innovative research on nine of the leading MFIs (microfinance institutions) in the world. In the process he introduces a new performance indicator, “comparable return on equity” (CRoE) to be used alongside current indicators to help advise potential equity and debt investors on their microfinance investment decisions.
The conclusions are that the industry show high growth and high returns on a global basis, is still underleveraged, has high expense ratios, has good asset quality and has returns of a global nature that show no geographic bias.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Who’s Who in Microfinance: ACCION President and CEO MarÌÐa Otero
MarÌÐa Otero joined ACCION International (ACCION), a US-based charity supporting microfinance, in 1986 as the Honduras lending program director. On January 1, 2000 Ms. Otero was ACCION President and CEO, replacing Michael Chu who had served in the position from 1994 to 1999. Ms. Otero also chairs ACCION Investments, an investment company for MFIs worth USD 20 million. Her leadership in microfinance extends to the boards of directors of Mibanco, BancoSol, and Compartamos, MFIs in Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico, respectively. Ms. Otero also serves on the boards of the Calvert Foundation, BRAC Holding in Bangladesh, and the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2004 Ms. Otero was nominated by President Bush to be a member of the United States Institute for Peace, where she has served since. She is also a coordinator of the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, which includes 18 equity investment funds directed towards microfinance.
Paper Wrap-Up: “Microinsurance Note 3 – Partnerships: microfinance Institutions and Commercial Insurers”
Produced by Michael J. McCord and Jim Roth of the MicroInsurance Centre for USAID as part of the Microinsurance Note series. Available here.
When Compartamos, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI), announced it was looking for an insurance partner it had several international firms fighting for its business. This paper presents a model for the structure of such relationships in the provision of microinsurance products. It claims efficiency in transactions and operations are essential to reduce premium costs while expanding coverage, suggesting MFI’s “might be the perfect intermediary for insurers to reach the low income market” as they have already developed financial relationships in this area.
The ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Distributes Loans to Various Organizations in Latin America
As reported in this edition of the CGAP-MIX MCM Newsletter, the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund has made several loans recently to various organizations in Latin America: Edpyme Crear Arequipa of Peru ($1 million), AgroCapital of Bolivia ($500,000), Compartamos of Mexico ($1.47 million), Banco ProCredit of Ecuador ($1 million), Cecocafen of Nicaragua ($500,000), and Credivision of Peru ($300,000).
Continue reading “The ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Distributes Loans to Various Organizations in Latin America”
Mexican Microfinance Bank Receives $10 Million Loan Pledge from International Finance Corporation
Mexico-based Banco Compartamos will receive loans worth $10 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The funds are to be disbursed over a seven year period. This is the first of three loan pledges to Banco Compartamos; IFC has not yet announced the next two.
ACCION’s “Who Will Buy our Paper” Conference in NYC Highlights Bond Issues for Microfinance Investment
Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) around the globe are looking to national and international capital markets to fund their growth.
At a microfinance conference in
As the microfinance sector transforms from the segmented, non-profit market of 20 years ago into a more professional, profitable, transparent, and technologically-savvy industry, it is turning to capital markets to fuel growth, and investors are taking notice.
Since many MFIs lack banking licenses, they are unable to accept deposits, and must turn to commercial banks for funding. Because this route can be costly, some MFIs are exploring bond issuances. According to Fernando Alvarez Toca, chief financial officer of Mexico’s Financiera Compartamos, "Bonds provide us with cheaper funding…and we can use them to press our current lenders for better conditions."
For more information on this story, check out marketwatch.com.
Additional Resources
1) “Microfinance firms make tentative move into capital markets,” www.marketwatch.com , February 8, 2006
Dr. Yunus Goes Big Time while his US Spin-off Announces $50 Million Guarantee Fund for Microfinance Investment
Dr. Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi microbank, sat down with the likes of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Secretary General KofÌÐ Annan, World Bank Group President Paul Wolfowitz, and Omidyar Network founder Pierre Omidyar at Clinton’s Global Summit. The Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA), a non-profit spin-off of Dr. Yunus’ Bangladeshi microbank, took the opportunity to announce the launch of its $50 million guarantee fund, $5 million of which is already committed by Ms. McKinley, a California philanthropist who made her money as the director of Capital Research and Management Company. GFUSA seeks to hit its $50 million target within the next year.
Additional Resources
1) “Clinton Global Initiative.”
2) “New Fund Featured in Clinton Global Initiative Book Offers up to $50 million to Guarantee Microfinance Loans for the Poor.”
3) “California Couple Donates $10 Million to Combat Poverty Around the World.”
4) “Insight 15: Bridging the Finance Gap: ACCION’s Experience with Guarantee Funds for Microfinance Institutions.”
5) “IFC Supports Financiera Compartamos Bond Issue in Mexico through Partial Credit Guarantee First Investment Grade Bond Issue to Finance Microfinance Activities in Mexico.”
6) “Microcredit Development Fund Helps Transform Household Scraps into Sustainable Entrepreneurship.”