Macquarie and Foundation Securities sign cooperation agreement

Foundation Securities (Pvt) Limited (“FSL”), a leading Pakistan securities company, and Macquarie Capital Securities Limited, an affiliate of global financial institution Macquarie Group (Macquarie, ASX:MQG), have signed a strategic cooperation agreement covering investment banking and securities operations.

The initial agreement enables Macquarie’s clients to receive co-branded equity research focused on Pakistan and to trade equities in Pakistan, one of Asia’s key emerging markets. It also gives FSL’s clients access to Macquarie’s leading presence in global financial markets. The agreement includes exclusive partnering arrangements between FSL and Macquarie in relation to in-bound and out-bound equity capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate finance advisory work.

“This is a landmark agreement in one of Asia’s most untapped markets and helps Macquarie bring further focus to the region’s frontier markets,” said Mark Duncan, Head of Macquarie Securities Group, Asia.

Macquarie continues to grow its Asia franchise and expand its footprint in emerging markets. In 2010 it signed wide-ranging cooperation agreements with VinaSecurities, a leading Vietnamese securities company, and BRAC-EPL, a leading investment bank in Bangladesh. Macquarie also recently advised Hong Kong based United Energy Group Limited (UEG) on the $US775 million acquisition of BP’s upstream assets in Pakistan. The assets consist of nine producing and exploration blocks in Sindh province and four offshore exploration blocks in the Arabian Sea. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011.

“The combination of FSL’s unrivalled local market knowledge and Macquarie’s deep expertise in international markets will benefit Macquarie’s global client base and corporates in Pakistan,” said Kalpana Desai, Asia Head of Macquarie’s investment banking business, Macquarie Capital Advisers.

FSL, established in January 2005 as a full service equities broking and investment banking firm, is a member of the Karachi Stock Exchange and the National Commodity Exchange. In 2010, FSL was awarded Runner-up in the Best Brokerage House category of the CFA Association of Pakistan’s annual awards. It also ranked #2 in the Best Brokerage House in Pakistan category in Asiamoney magazine’s 21st Annual Brokers Poll 2010.

“I am delighted that Macquarie and FSL have decided to partner in jointly pitching the Pakistan story to their investors,” said Atif Mohammed Khan, MD & CEO, Foundation Securities. “With Macquarie’s wide global presence and a special focus on the Frontier Markets, I firmly believe that our co-branded research will have a much forceful impact. Macquarie’s presence will also open up a lot of avenues to explore in equity capital markets and corporate finance advisory work.”

In Hong Kong, Macquarie Securities Group and Macquarie Capital Advisers conduct their activities through Macquarie Capital Securities Limited. Macquarie Securities Group operates the world's ninth largest broker by number of stocks under coverage and has membership of exchanges in 10 markets in Asia. Macquarie Capital Advisers has been a top-ranked equity capital markets adviser in Asia for three consecutive years, having managed some of the world’s most important transactions including the world’s largest ever share sale by Agricultural Bank of China in 2010.

Macquarie's equities platform is recognised for both the strength of its research recommendations and the quality of its trading executions. In Bloomberg's rankings for execution for 2010, Macquarie debuted on the global rankings at #3. Macquarie also maintained a leading position in Asia, moving up from second place to become the #1 ranked broker for Asia¹. In the Financial Times / StarMine report, which rates the accuracy of research analysts' stock picks, Macquarie was ranked #3 in Asia and the United States.

About Foundation Securities (Pvt) Limited (“FSL”)

FSL is a full service equities broking firm offering equities broking and corporate finance advisory & capital market services. The firm serves both domestic and international clients investing or seeking broking and advisory services in Pakistan’s primary and secondary capital markets. With offices in the 3 major cities of Pakistan, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, FSL also offers online trading facility to its clientele.

FSL is part of the Fauji Foundation Group (“FF”), the largest private sector welfare cum industrial conglomerate in Pakistan with strategic investments in fertilizer and cement production, power generation, gas exploration & production, food processing, LPG distribution, and port handling sectors. FFs' shareholding in its associated companies has a market value of USD 700 million, while the companies represent 4.6% of the total market capitalization at the Karachi Stock Exchange.

1. The rankings were based on data from over $US7.5 trillion in trades with about 500 money managers around the world.