Generally, equity capital is indispensable whenever a company with the typical combination of internal and external financing operating in a more or less credit-oriented financing culture – like this is the case in many of EBRD's COOs - reach their growth limits. Under the competitive conditions of globalisation, a growing number of companies are now compelled to pursue strategic growth strategies that can only be achieved through access to equity capital. The same applies to the exploitation of growth potential of technology companies that need to take advantage of windows of innovation and market opportunities that exist for only a limited period of time. Therefore capital is needed and access to capital market financing can be one of the solutions. But many companies are sceptical if there is a sufficient local and international investor base which can provide the required capital and invest in the EBRD's COOs.
As reliable and detailed investor data are rarely available in most of the emerging countries, EBRD is now seeking to appoint a highly specialised consulting company or a consortium of companies (the "Consultant") to identify and analyse the institutional and retail investors which are active in the securities markets of EBRD's countries of operation (the "assignment").
The overall objective of this assignment is to identify the investor base which is active in the securities markets of EBRD's countries of operation.
The selected Consultant shall carry out following activities:
Activity 1: Market research, data collection and analysis
The aim of the Activity 1 is to identify, collect, and analyse the investor data on a country and regional level and to prepare the Investor Base Report covering EBRD's countries of operation (COOs). The tasks of the activity will include:
(a) Identify the availability of investor data on public listed firm level in EBRD's COOs;
(b) Define the structure of the Investor Base Report and agree the format with EBRD;
(c) Collect detailed investor data on publicly listed firm level in EBRD's COOs covering equity and debt investments, in such a level of detail that data availability, public filings and pro-active data outreach allows.
(d) Analyse collected data on country and regional level;
(e) Prepare summaries on the investor base on country and regional level, and supply the collected data in electronic format to EBRD. Each country level summary should provide the key information on the investor base as agreed with EBRD and should be complemented by a regional comparison.
(f) Prepare the Investor Base Report which will provide a general overview of the key findings, and information on a country-by-country as well as regional level covering the EBRD's COOs (depending on data availability).
Deliverables of Activity 1 will be the Investor Base Report and a set of investor data in electronic format covering EBRD's COOs.
Activity 2: Preparation, printing and public presentation of the Investor Base Report
The Investor Base Report prepared in Activity 1 will form the base for the planned publication of the key findings. The Consultant has to cover the costs for proof reading, layout and printing of the Investor Base Report and organization of the public event including catering. The tasks of the activity will include:
(a) Define the structure, format and content the Investor Base Report which will be published with EBRD;
(b) Prepare the Investor Base Report and arrange for proof reading in coordination with EBRDs communication department;
(c) Print around 200 copies of the Investor Base Report and provide the Report also in pdf format for publication after approval by EBRD.
(d) Present the Report together with EBRD to the public and assist EBRD in organizing the event. The costs of the event have to be covered by the Consultant. The presentation of the Report is planned to take place in EBRD's Headquarters in London.
Deliverables of Activity 2 will be 200 printed copies of the Investor Base Report, the Investor Base Report in pdf format and the public event to present the Report.
Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Assignment can be accessed through the following link.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit their expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: It is estimated that the assignment will begin in February/March 2017 and with an approximate duration of 6 months.
Maximum Cost Estimate Available for the Assignment: EUR 120,000; exclusive of VAT.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by the Special Shareholder Fund (SSF). Please note selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with experience in:
-Investor base research with a proven track record in data collection, data analysis, and carrying out investor base surveys;
-Previous project experience in emerging markets is a distinctive advantage.
It is expected that the Consultant's team will comprise of the following key expert(s):
Key Expert 1: Team Leader / Investor Data Specialist
-Preferably 5 years' of previous professional experience in the analysing investor data and/or conducting investor surveys
-Preferably 5 years' of previous project management experience including acting as Team Leader on similar assignments;
-In-depth knowledge of equity capital markets and investment behaviour;
-Acted as a team leader in preferably 2 similar projects;
-Excellent communication, analytical, report writing and presentation skills;
-Proficiency in written and spoken English.
Key Expert(s) 2: Investor Survey and Data Analytics Specialist(s)
-Preferably 3 years' of previous professional experience in investor base surveys and/or data analytics related to equity and/or corporate debt markets with focus on publicly listed stocks;
-Proven track record in data collection and/or analytics;
-Experience in drafting analytical reports for publication;
-Acted as an expert in preferably 2 similar project;
-Proficiency in written and spoken English language. Additional knowledge of Arabic, French and/or Russian would be a distinctive advantage.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of consulting firms, the information submitted should include the following:
a) Overview of the firm/group of firms including company profile, organization and staffing (max. 2-4 pages);
b) Details of required experience of firm or group of firms and related assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, percentage carried out by consultant in case of association of firms or subcontracting, main activities, objectives;
c) CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
d) Brief technical proposal for assignment implementation, including the Consultant’s understanding of the objectives, the proposed approach and methodology to a successful delivery of the Assignment, a work plan with milestones, and a team input summary indicating the number of working days allocated to the Assignment by each Key Expert using the templates attached in the TOR.
e) Financial proposal presented in the breakdown of costs format using the template attached in the TOR;
f) Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available at:
http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.
The above information should not exceed 20 pages, excluding CVs and Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Contact Sheet) shall be one file (pdf or Word), not exceeding 4MB, to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
Expressions of interest shall be submitted in English through eSelection and not directly to the contact person given below, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date for submissions indicated above.
Bank Contact Person:
Jenny Scheffel
Principal Technical Cooperation Adviser
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: +44 2073 38600
E-mail: SCHEFFEJ@EBRD.COM
(Submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Important Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. The shortlist criteria and weightings are as follows:
(a) Firm's previous project experience in Investor base research with a proven track record in data collection, data analysis, and carrying out investor base surveys. Previous project experience in emerging markets is a distinctive advantage - 25%;
(b) CVs of Key Experts - 30%;
(c) Quality of the Consultant's technical proposal - 25%;
(d) Financial Proposal - 20%.
