Senegal Bondholders Approve Retiring 2014 Bond for New Debt, Standard Says
Senegal obtained approval from 75 percent of investors holding its $200 million of 2014 bonds to retire the notes in exchange for new debt issued last week, Standard Bank Group Ltd. said.
“Exchanging the illiquid 2014 bond for an index-eligible benchmark dramatically repositions Senegal in the international bond market,” Florian von Hartig, global head of debt capital markets at Standard Bank in London, said in an e-mailed statement today. “The new bond provides Senegal with a liquid and broadly subscribed bond which will serve as a beneficial pricing benchmark for Senegal’s future international capital markets requirements.”
Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Plc arranged the West African nation’s sale of $500 million in 10-year dollar bonds, which were priced to yield 9.125 percent on May 6. Investors including more than 125 U.S., European and Asian institutions placed orders for as much as $2.4 billion of the bonds by May 5, Johannesburg-based Standard Bank said in the statement.
Senegal’s notes, which are rated B+ by Standard & Poor’s, its fourth-highest junk assessment, is the fifth benchmark sovereign bond to come to the international market from sub- Saharan Africa excluding South Africa, according to Standard Bank. Benchmark typically means at least $500 million. Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Gabon have sold Eurobonds of $500 million or more.
Senegal’s 2014 dollar bond, sold in December 2009, rose for a second day, sending the yield down 12 basis points, or 0.12 percentage point, to a record 7.42 percent at 12:07 p.m. in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Kay in London at ckay5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Kirkland at skirkland@bloomberg.net
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