LAGOS (The Southern African Times) – Nigeria’s biggest lender, Access Bank has issued a $500 million Eurobond, priced at 9.125 per cent, one of the book runners said Monday.
The latest issue — a Basel-III compliant perpetual bond –the first of its kind for a Nigerian bank, is the second dollar-denominated bond for Access Bank in less than a month.
Commenting on the transaction, the Group Managing Director of the bank, Dr. Herbert Wigwe stated: “At Access Bank, we remain fully committed to the execution of our vision to become the ‘World’s Most Respected African Bank.”
According to Wigwe, the success of the transaction, which he said was the first in the Nigerian banking industry and the first of its kind in Africa outside of South Africa, would significantly enhance the bank’s tier 1 and total capital ratios ahead of Basel III implementation in Nigeria.
Additionally, the bank boss said the fresh capital would provide room for significant growth through ongoing execution of the bank’s strategic objectives.
“In particular, it follows our recently announced Group reorganisation which is aimed at capturing the strategic opportunities in payments, agency banking, and insurance across the continent which we expect will further enhance the growth profile and diversification of our business.
“Our growth and diversification strategy is also underlined by the recent expansion of our regional footprint where we continue to monitor opportunities. “This additional tier 1 Eurobond issuance, following our recently concluded $500 million Senior Unsecured Eurobond, underscores the formidable confidence of a diversified range of global and local investors in the bank’s strategy”.
Citigroup, JP Morgan, Mashreqbank and Renaissance Capital acted as Joint Bookrunners on the transaction; and Chapel Hill Denham and Coronation Merchant Bank acted as Financial Advisers and Joint Bookrunners.
Access Bank Plc, a Nigerian lender with operations in 11 African countries, has successfully issued a $500 million senior unsecured Eurobond, recording oversubscription three times over less than a month ago.
Then, the five-year Senior Eurobond matures in September 2026 and was issued with a yield and coupon of 6.125 per cent, the lowest (outstanding) Nigerian bank Eurobond coupon.
