South Africa

South Africa’s dollar bonds have managed to scrape through the rout on some of the country’s risk assets, after local media said the deputy president could be removed from his position and tried for treason.

Anil Agarwal, founder of mining group Vedanta Resources, has managed to surprise the stockmarket with the same trick twice. But as Jon Hay and Aidan Gregory write, his intentions in buying another £1.5bn of shares in Anglo American are anything but clear, and he is paying a high price for influence.

Shares in Steinhoff Africa Retail, the African retail assets of Steinhoff International, rose 5% above their IPO price on Wednesday after the company made its debut on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

South Africa has printed a $2.5bn dual tranche bond that analysts said was attractive despite the country’s recent economic and political woes.

Sibanye Gold, the South African gold miner, took the final step towards refinancing its acquisition of US platinum miner Stillwater on Tuesday, when it issued a $450m convertible bond.

The IPO of Steinhoff Africa Retail, known as Star, the African discount store assets of Steinhoff International, has been priced at R20.50 a share, the midpoint of the initial R18 to R23 range.

FirstRand Bank has begun syndication of a $250m loan, aimed at Asian lenders.

South African bank Investec signed a $600m syndicated loan on Wednesday, double the initial launch amount, making it the second successful bank financing to come out of the country this month after Standard Bank’s $1bn loan.

After the US public holiday on Monday restricted trading, the equity block trades market in EMEA reopened spectacularly this week, with a rush of large deals from across the region.

Steinhoff International, the South African conglomerate, has opened the books on the IPO of Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star), a company formed from its African retail assets, which could value the business at up to R79.3bn ($6.1bn) if it is priced at the top of its range.

The summer lull is at an end and borrowers have sprung back into action. The BondMarker voters have delivered their verdict on which of last week's deals impressed.

In spite of the recent downgrade of South Africa and five of its largest banks, Standard Bank and Investec have received overwhelming demand from international banks for their loan financings.