Africa

Republic of Mozambique met bondholders in London on Tuesday to lay out the long awaited terms of a restructuring package. It was more severe than anticipated and a group representing bondholders rebuffed the offer.

Investec Bank has benefited from South Africa’s political turn for the better, with pricing tightened on a $300m loan refinancing and Asian banks flocking to another loan for its UK branch.

Republic of Mozambique met bondholders in London on Tuesday to lay out the terms of a long awaited restructuring package that was more severe than anticipated by one analyst in London. Analysts do not expect bondholders to accept the offer, but said it likely sets a floor for future negotiations.

Credit Suisse has put two emerging markets DCM bankers at risk.

Tullow Oil, the group based in London that has most of its operations in Africa, was on course to print its new high yield bond in the 7% area this week. It was attracting interest from pension funds in need of assets with high returns, according to sources.

Steinhoff International, the embattled South African retail conglomerate, sold a €251m block of shares in KAP Industrial Holdings on Tuesday, as it continues to raise money to plug holes in its balance sheet, but doubt remains about whether much is left to salvage from the business.

Emerging market bond investors are reporting low secondary flows in a market dominated by new issues this week. And the mixed performance of those new deals is expected to weigh on investor appetite for this week’s trades.

Seplat Petroleum sold a $350m five year non-call two bond on Monday, turning down a larger trade that was available, according to a lead manager. The final print was being smaller than originally indicated.

The Arab Republic of Egypt has named four banks to manage its first euro-denominated bond sale.

Seplat Petroleum, a Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company, was offering a 9% handle for its market debut on Monday.

The pipeline for euro-denominated African bonds is beginning to bulge, with Cote d’Ivoire announcing plans to follow Senegal to the market this week and Tunisia and Egypt preparing their own deals. But, as Virginia Furness reports, while large euro books show there is strong appetite for speculative grade supply, and is opening up a new funding channel for EM borrowers, the cost of funding in the currency versus dollars is unlikely to improve.