Leading GCC Banks Emirates NBD and Mashreq Back Syndicated Loans platform - LoanBook

3 Min | 27 November 2024

Dubai, UAE - November 27, 2024: Emirates NBD and Mashreq Bank today announced a strategic investment in NewBridge Fintech Solutions, a fintech firm and owner of LoanBook, an EMEA focused- next-generation platform digitising the syndicated loan and private credit markets.

LoanBook offers a centralised marketplace for market participants to access global loan opportunities and automates end-to-end workflows, bringing much-needed efficiency and velocity to an industry still heavily reliant on manual processes. With this investment, LoanBook gains significant resources, scale, and industry support to deliver transformative solutions to the loan capital markets.

As an industry-backed platform, LoanBook aims to fundamentally innovate the $5.5 trillion annual loan issuance market across primary syndication, secondary trading, and lifecycle management workflows between borrower , lenders and administrative agents. LoanBook management and advisory board comprises senior ex bankers and industry leaders who believe that Loan markets are ready to embrace a digital future that will unlock greater liquidity, efficiency, and ultimately attract a wider investor base, through continuous innovation across the credit ecosystem.

LoanBook was used successfully to launch and manage a marquee multi-billion primary syndication for a large regional GRE.

LoanBook recently appointed a senior industry leader - Mark Waters as their CEO.

Statements from Key Stakeholders:

Sid Bhandari, Founder and CEO of NewBridge Fintech: "Our partnership with Emirates NBD and Mashreq Bank is a major step forward in our mission to digitise the syndicated loan market. By collaborating closely with both teams, we will jointly address the numerous friction points in syndicated loan markets and leverage LoanBook's next-generation technologies to bring new, innovative solutions and drive real change in the regional and global loan market. With the backing of MENAT's leading bookrunners, we will achieve the scale and resources required to grow the business and enable wider adoption amongst market participants."
Hitesh Asarpota, CEO of Emirates NBD Capital: "Our loan syndication and agency team will actively collaborate with LoanBook to effectively address the multiple friction points endemic to the current loan market structure. This aligns with our collaborative approach to innovation at Emirates NBD, and we are excited to be a part of LoanBook's efforts to help shape the future of the loan market ecosystem."
Chiradeep Deb, Global Head of Investment Banking, Mashreq: "Mashreq is pleased to be part of LoanBook's effort to bring digitisation to the loan markets. As part of our Neo ventures initiative, we will actively collaborate, co-create, and commercialise solutions across the larger EMEA markets to bring modernisation to the syndicated loans market."
Neeraj Makin, Group Head of Strategy, Analytics and Venture Capital, Emirates NBD Group: “Our investment reflects Emirates NBD’s continued commitment to innovation, as we recognise the rapidly changing technological landscape and the impact it has on our industry. Our Corporate Venture Fund’s mission is to identify and back strategically relevant FinTech and Tech initiatives. By investing in transformative platforms like LoanBook, we aim to streamline and accelerate the loan syndication process with a broader objective of driving technological advancements that enhance both our operations and the global loan market. Moreover, this will be our first investment in a FinTech based out of UAE and we are very proud of that milestone.
Amith Rajan, Head of Wholesale Digital Banking & CEO NeoVentures, Mashreq: "Mashreq has always been at the forefront of digital transformation, and we are committed to introducing innovative technologies that enhance the customer and employee experience. Our investment in disruptive FinTech’s like NewBridge through NeoVentures is a testament to our commitment to harness the power of collaboration within the ecosystem. We are excited to partner with them to co-create a cutting-edge, digital and AI driven Agency solution to transform what has traditionally been a manual marketplace."

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