Ecobank’s New $50m Eurobond Oversubscribed By 460%
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI, the parent company of the Ecobank Group,announced on Thursday that it had successfully tapped the international capital markets for an additional $50m in Eurobonds due April 2024.
It said in a statement that the bonds would be consolidated and form a single series with the $450m 9.5 per cent issued in April 2019 and due in April 2024.
“This tap issuance was launched as a RegS 5-year USD denominated senior unsecured bond offering. It was oversubscribed by over 4.6 times. The issue price is 104.915 per cent of the principal amount, reflecting a yield of 8.25 per cent, a solid improvement from the yield of 9.75 per cent for the initial issue,” ETI said.
According to the statement, the proceeds will be used for ETI’s general corporate purposes and will further strengthen its liquidity.
It said, “The transaction is in line with ETI’s strategic objectives and forms part of the proactive management of its balance sheet to diversify funding sources and extend the average debt maturity profile.
ETI said the bonds had been placed with a broad range of institutional debt investors across Europe and Africa, adding that Standard and Poor’s and Fitch had confirmed credit ratings of B and B-Stable respectively to the issue, in line with ETI’s corporate rating.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, ETI, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, said, “As investor appetite deepens for emerging market offerings, we are positioned to offer the value that global investors seek. Our ability to open Africa to the world makes us a compelling choice.
“We appreciate the trust vested in us in continuing to build a strong independent Africaninstitution – a force for economic development in all of our operating markets.”
The acting Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr Ayo Adepoju, said, “The success of this tap, which was more than four times oversubscribed, confirms ETI as an attractive investment for fixed income investors.
“We are pleased with the performance of the initial issue on the secondary markets and the increasingly competitive terms we have been able to achieve with this tap, as evidenced by a 150-basis point reduction in yield.”
