The Market Authority of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX/Exchange) has announced the admission of the 4,000th security to its Official List on 19 May 2011. London Mining (Jersey) plc, a special purpose vehicle, listed a £110 million 8% guaranteed convertible debt bond. The listing was sponsored by Walkers Capital Markets Ltd.
Jonathan Hooley, Chairman of the CISX, described it as gratifying that, even in the current difficult trading environment, the CISX continues to grow its business. ‘It is a great testament to the efforts of the CEO and the professional team at the CISX who work closely with its Members,’ he said.
Ewa Grudzinska, Listings Manager for Walkers in Jersey, commented: ‘Walkers is delighted to act for London Mining plc in this matter and also to be associated with such an important milestone event for the CISX. London Mining plc's convertible bond issue is quite novel because typically convertible bonds used in a Jersey cashbox structure such as this one would have been listed on the London's professional debt market. Instead, the Issuer opted to list the bonds on the CISX on the basis of the Exchange’s international recognition, high level of service and pragmatic approach to listing - this would be a first for a transaction of this type.’
Nigel Weston, partner with Walkers and Head of the Finance and Corporate Group in Jersey, added: ‘Listing services are a key component of our offering in Jersey and an area where Walkers has made a significant investment and seen some exciting growth recently. Our professionals manage the entire listing process and in this case the combination of working with a first class issuer and the excellent team at the CISX has made for an extremely satisfactory outcome for the client.’
Tamara Menteshvili, CISX Chief Executive stated, ‘The achievement of our 4,000th listing underscores the business growth of the Exchange and is a good indicator of the continuing demand for the Exchange’s services within the Channel Islands and beyond. Of significance is the quality of the issuer, the unique features of the issuance and the collaboration of all the professionals involved in ensuring the ease with which the issuer was able list its security.”
The CISX has by far the most Channel Islands listings of any global exchange with more than 1,100 listings domiciled in either Guernsey or Jersey and it maintains a truly international following, with over 22 countries and well over 200 international issuers maintaining a listing. The Exchange has a broad range of securities represented on its Official List and many niche markets including structured funds, property funds and specialist debt securities.
The Exchange was founded in 1998 and listed its 2,000th listing nine years later in 2007. It has taken only four years to have doubled that figure once again, an indication of the increasing global recognition and accelerating business which has been generated by the Exchange in the last few years, despite the global downturn.