Afreximbank plays key role in Fidelity Bank’s successful $400m Eurobond issuance
Ben Eguzozie is business a.m. regional lead based in Port Harcourt, providing regional and national coverage for economy, business and finance
You can contact him on ben.eguzozie@businessamlive.com with stories and commentary.
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Issue marked bank’s return to int’l debt capital markets after 4-year break
Afreximbank, through its Advisory & Capital Markets (ACMA) investment banking arm, acted as a JLM and bookrunner to place and close Fidelity Bank Plc’s recent 5-Year 144A/Reg Senior Unsecured Eurobond worth $400 million on 21 October, the African trade bank has said.
Fidelity Bank, the Nigerian lender, appointed Afreximbank to work jointly with Citi and J.P. Morgan on the transaction which was settled on 28 October.
On 18 October, Fidelity Bank announced the marketing of a benchmark 5-year bond, which was followed by a two-day virtual roadshow. The virtual roadshow consisted of a global investor call and a series of small group and one-on-one meetings with some of the key international and local accounts in the emerging market (EM) space.
Following the successful roadshow, Fidelity Bank announced a new 5-year benchmark transaction and subsequently priced a $400 million 5-Year note at a Re-offer Yield of 7.875% and a coupon of 7.625%. The transaction closed comfortably within its cost optimization pricing targets, with the order book oversubscribed by –2x.
The issue marks Fidelity Bank’s return to the international debt capital markets after a 4-year break and is its third Eurobond since 2013.
The investors in the transaction included some of the most active institutions from around the world, with healthy investor demand from the UK, mainland Europe, US, Asia, the Middle East and Africa notwithstanding tight market conditions and competing supply, demonstrating the issuer’s growing reputation with international debt capital market investors.
According to Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the board of directors of Afreximbank, the bank’s role in the transaction is strategic and emblematic of both consistency in delivery of value to its clients throughout their growth life cycle, and of the Afreximbank’s successful drive to provide innovative and sustainable funding options via the DCM in addition to our client-tailored banking services.