South Africa

South Africa’s troubled state-run power company, Eskom, signed a $2.5bn loan from China Development Bank (CDB) this week, securing almost two-thirds of its funding requirements for the financial year and reviving hope among investors that the country’s state-owned companies have moved one step closer to returning to the capital markets. That wish was swiftly granted by Eskom mandating for its first bond since 2015. Mike Turner and Francesca Young report.

South Africa’s Eskom has signed a $2.5bn loan from China Development Bank, securing almost two thirds of its funding requirements for the financial year amid speculation that the troubled state run power company might buy back its 2021 bonds.

South Africa’s Investec Bank has doubled the size from launch of its two year syndicated term loan to $600m, after a 'significant' oversubscription.

Creditors to retailer Steinhoff have agreed to give the scandal-hit company an extra three weeks to provide a debt restructuring plan, two days after the company said it would not be able to hammer out a deal in time for the initial June 30 deadline.

Scandal-hit retailer Steinhoff International Holdings has asked its creditors for a three week extension to hammer out the final terms of a multi-billion euro debt restructuring.

Absa Bank and Rand Merchant Bank are selling a 2.9% stake in Shoprite, the South African food retailer, as part of a derivative transaction with Christo Wiese, chairman of Shoprite and former chairman of Steinhoff International.

Shares in Quilter, the UK asset management arm of Old Mutual, performed well in the aftermarket on Monday after its £239m London IPO.

Quilter, Old Mutual’s UK asset management subsidiary, has priced its IPO. The last guidance was that orders below 145p risked missing the deal. At that level, the deal would come two thirds of the way up its original range.

South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare has signed syndicated loans totalling around €3.4bn-equivalent, in a deal that saw the sort of chunky oversubscription that lenders say will be commonplace throughout the year, because of lack of supply.

South Africa raised $2bn in a difficult market on Tuesday, after US Treasuries widened unexpectedly at just the moment that the sovereign began marketing its new deal. The resulting sell-off in both South Africa’s curve and the rand meant that the issuer was not able to tighten pricing as much as had been anticipated, and the deal was smaller.

South Africa had to contend with an unexpected widening in US Treasuries when marketing its new deal on Tuesday. The resulting sell-off in both South Africa’s curve and the rand meant that the issuer was not able to tighten pricing as much as had been anticipated, and the deal was smaller overall.

South Africa has opened books on its first sovereign trade this year and is looking to capitalise on goodwill towards president Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic transformation efforts. It hopes to offset the recent spread widening that has followed weakness in the rand — and in broader emerging markets — as a result of the stronger dollar.