Africa

South Africa has opened books on a dual tranche 2028 and 2046 dollar bond after a turbulent summer and while the generous starting price is likely to generate momentum in the book, fears of a downgrade overhang the transaction with one investor telling GlobalCapital he saw better value elsewhere.

Steinhoff, the South African retail group, has completed a €2.45bn capital increase supported by one of South Africa’s richest men, Christoffel Wiese, and the Public Investment corp, of which €556m was raised through an accelerated bookbuild which ended up being nearly four times oversubscribed.

Ghana Coco Board (Cocobod), which oversees the processing and marketing of cocoa in the African country, has named the 23 international lenders providing its yearly loan of $1.8bn.

The cheerful and businesslike mood in European equity capital markets, despite clear risks of volatility in the offing, was highlighted again today by the launch of a €2.5bn capital raising by Steinhoff, the South African retail group.

Bank ABC and Credit Suisse are leading the syndication of a €195.5m loan for Tunisie Telecom's acquisition of a majority holding in Maltese telecoms firm GO, according to a banker close to the deal.

After a two year absence from the capital markets, two Nigerian corporate issuers are lining up to test investor demand for sub-Saharan Africa high yield credit.

PPC, the largest listed South African cement producer, has completed its fully underwritten 16-for-10 rights issue in Johannesburg, raising R4bn ($280m) to clear its debts in the wake of a downgrade by Standard & Poor’s.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made a key hire for its South African investment banking business.

PPC, the largest listed South African cement producer, has completed its fully underwritten rights issue in Johannesburg, raising R4bn ($280m) to clear its debts in the wake of a downgrade by Standard & Poor's.

Ghana has bought back $200m of its outstanding 8.5% 2017s — just half of the targeted $400m. Emerging markets investors were happy to hold the bonds to maturity, said one on Monday.

Gold One Group, which produces low-cost gold in South Africa and is part of the Citic Group, is laying the groundwork for a Hong Kong listing with a preliminary filing.

Stanbic Bank Uganda this week decreased the size of its loan refinancing to $55m. Weaker appetite for dollars from Ugandan corporates and a prospective US rate hike were reasons for the smaller deal, the bank's CFO told GlobalCapital.