28 June 2019
Absa Bank Limited (the “Borrower” or “Absa” or the “Bank”), Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered Bank (together the “Bookrunners” and “Coordinators”) are pleased to announce the signing and successful closing of a US$ 500,000,000 Term Loan facility (the “Facility”).
The Facility has an initial tenor of two years, subject to an extension option available at the Borrower’s discretion to extend the maturity by a further one-year at the end of the initial two-year tenor. The Facility pays a margin of 1.05% per annum. The proceeds of the Facility will be used for general corporate purposes including, but not limited to trade related finance.
The Facility launched on 29th May 2019 to select financial institutions, at a launch amount of US$ 300,000,000 (subject to increase). Absa subsequently elected to upsize the transaction to US$ 500,000,000, in light of the significant commitments received.
The response from the market was extremely strong, with more than 192% oversubscription achieved versus the original launch amount with the final lender group consisting of 19 geographically diverse banks. This significant over-subscription necessitated the scaling back of total commitments, even after upsizing the facility to US$ 500,000,000. The positive market response is a reflection of Absa’s strong appeal to international investors, as well as the Borrower’s robust credit profile.
“This is the first syndicated loan Absa Bank has concluded in more than a decade and we are pleased with the result. I would also like to acknowledge our Coordinators and the key relationship banks that have participated in this US$500m syndicated loan,” said Jason Quinn, Absa Group Ltd. Financial Director. “The need for this syndicated loan following our US$400m Tier II bond issuance last year is to fund the growth in our US dollar lending both in South Africa and our Regional Operations, in support of our group strategy”.
