GT Bank announces results of $500 million Eurobond

GT Bank Plc has announced the results of its cash tender offer for the $500 million Eurobond at 7.50 per cent.
The bank had on February 4 opened an international tender offer for the bond.
It said that an aggregate principal amount of $126.59 million of the securities validly tendered on or prior to the expiration deadline and not validly withdrawn was accepted.
The statement said the deadline for the tender offer was February 10.
It added that no securities were tendered through the guaranteed delivery procedures described in the tender offer memorandum dated February 4.
According to the bank, the settlement date for the tender offer is February 16, 2016.
“The tender offer is consistent with its liability management strategy and reflected its ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency of its funding and capital structure as it sought to reduce its overall funding costs,” it said.
It quoted Segun Agbaje, the bank’s Managing Director, as saying that the offer was the first of its kind involving a Nigerian corporate in the international financial markets.
Agbaje said the offer would enable the bank to achieve the objective of reducing some of “its borrowing costs ahead of the maturity of the Eurobond in May of this year”.
He added: “The tender result is also a testament to the strength of the bank’s credit in the international capital markets.
“It is gratifying and humbling at the same time to note this level of investor confidence in the bank.”
JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley acted as the joint dealer managers for the offer, while Lucid Issuer Services Limited acted as tender agent and information agent.
– additional report from NAN.