· Continent draws outsized demand for $300m bond
· Signals investor confidence in continent’s digital infrastructure
· 2.5x oversubscription underscores investment case for continent’s largest independent fibre network
Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa’s largest fibre network, with 115,000-kilometre fibre network spanning more than 25 countries across the continent, closed a $660 million debt financing round in what has been described a test of institutional appetite for African credit.
The bond deal also included a $300 million Eurobond that was oversubscribed 2.5 times ― a result that signified a meaningful vote of confidence in the continent’s digital infrastructure story.
Listed on Euronext Dublin and issued under Rule 144A/Regulation S, the bond formed the centrepiece of a broader debt paydown and refinancing completed by Liquid, the Pan-African fibre and technology business owned by Cassava Technologies.
The transaction retires the company’s prior debt obligations, extends its debt maturity profile, and resets its balance sheet on terms that give management the financial headroom to accelerate the company’s growth and cement its leading position as a critical enabler of Africa’s digital transformation.
Analysts knowledgeable about the deal adduce that 2.5 times oversubscription in a risk-selective market underscores the investment case for Africa’s largest independent fibre network.
These analysts also cite that the demand of that scale, against a challenging capital markets environment, points to something more than routine refinancing. It also suggests that a cohort of international institutional investors has made a considered judgement; that Liquid’s asset base, its 115,000-kilometre fibre network spanning more than 25 countries, its growing cloud and cybersecurity revenues, and its positioning at the intersection of connectivity and AI infrastructure, constitute a credit that warrants allocation.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a business of Cassava Technologies (Cassava), a global technology leader with operations in 40-plus markets across Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, where the Cassava group companies operate. Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading provider of Pan-African digital infrastructure with fibre broadband network and satellite connectivity that provides high-speed access to the Internet anywhere in Africa.
Cassava, headquartered in the UK, is a global technology leader providing a vertically integrated ecosystem of digital services and infrastructure enabling digital transformation.
Liquid also leverages its digital network to provide cloud and cybersecurity solutions through strategic partnerships with leading global players. It is a comprehensive technology solutions group that provides customised digital solutions to public and private sector enterprises and SMEs across the continent.
The $660 million bond was accompanied by syndicated ZAR and US$ term loan facilities. The US$210 million ZAR syndicated term loan, provided by Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank, and the International Finance Corporation, provides a natural currency hedge against Liquid’s substantial South African revenues. This is a structural refinement that addresses one of the more persistent concerns institutional investors have raised about African issuers.
The $150 million syndicated term loan was provided by Ninety One, via its own funds and the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund and The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited (MCB). Together with the USD 195 million fresh equity injection by Cassava, these instruments retire our prior debt obligations, extend Liquid’s debt maturity profile and provide a natural ZAR currency hedge on our South African revenues, whilst placing net leverage on a firmly downward trajectory.
Anchor orders in the Eurobond were placed by leading development finance institutions (DFI), including DEG, the German development finance institution. DFI participation at this level is rarely cosmetic. It signals that institutions whose mandate is explicitly tied to sustainable development in emerging markets have assessed that Liquid’s infrastructure is consequential to that agenda.
Fitch Ratings upgraded Liquid Intelligent Technologies ahead of launch. Moody’s has placed the issuer on Review for Upgrade. The convergence of two agency actions reinforces our improved financial profile and will be noted by investors who track African credit closely, according to Hardy Pemhiwa, group chief executive officer of Liquid Tech.
J.P. Morgan, Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank acted as joint global coordinators (JGCs) and joint bookrunners.
Hardy Pemhiwa, president and group chief executive officer of Cassava said: “This refinancing is a significant milestone, not just financially, but strategically. A stronger, more sustainable balance sheet gives Liquid the platform it needs to pursue the full scope of digital transformation opportunities across Africa, from fibre and cloud to cybersecurity and AI-enabled infrastructure. The quality of the institutions that participated in this transaction is a statement of confidence in Liquid’s fundamentals, and in Africa’s digital growth story.”
