Kayode Tokede
Amid global and domestic challenges, the United Bank for Africa Plc’s (UBA) $300 million Eurobond attracted 1.7 times oversubscription from investors across the globe.
The Pan-African bank had on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) announced plans to raise a five-year fixed rate benchmark USD-denominated Regulation S/144A Senior Unsecured offering under its Global Medium Term Note Programme subject to market conditions.
The lender in a statement yesterday revealed that the targeted $300million Eurobond attracted an order book of $520 million, representing 1.7 times oversubscription.
According to statement obtained by THISDAY, the issue attracted interest from global investors across Europe, United States, Middle East, Asia and Africa, with orders from quality real money accounts.
The bank explained that its ability to achieve this transaction despite the challenging market backdrop, reflected continuing global investor appetite for UBA’s credit and support for the Group’s Pan African banking strategy.
It further added that: “In conjunction with the new issue, UBA announced a tender offer on the existing $500 million Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022.
“The issue size of $300 million represents the amount required to fund the tender offer based on the maximum expected hit rate, in line with market precedents.
“The new issue along with the liability management exercise, complements UBA’s stable funding base and supports the growth of the Bank’s balance sheet and the overall business.
“This issuance represents UBA’s second Eurobond transaction and the Bank’s first issuance under the recently established $1.5 billion Global Medium Term Programme, which was set up to enable the Bank access funding from the international debt capital markets, as and when required, in line with its growth plans and funding strategy.”
