Barclays Africa raises Sh40b in bond sale after decade-long hiatus

NAIROBI, KENYA: Barclays Africa Group has raised $400 million (Sh40 billion) in capital from its first dollar-denominated bond sale in the international market in more than a decade.

The money, the lender said, would go to funding normal corporate activities and ensuring that it maintains healthy levels of capital.

Bond sales are one of the ways in which companies raise capital. A team from Barclays met with more than 40 investors in one-on-one meetings in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore last week to present the company’s credentials and strategy so as to promote the investment opportunity to a broad array of foreign investors

“The team’s marketing effort was paramount to the success of the transaction. Choosing an optimal execution window and accelerating the timing of execution were also key to the success of the effort,” said Deon Raju, the group treasurer.

Name change

Mr Raju added that the outcome of the capital raising effort had been positive for Barclays Africa Group, both in terms of the total volume of the capital it was able to raise and the pricing achieved.

“This inaugural bond issuance and listing on the London Stock Exchange has also laid an important foundation for future funding access for the group in pursuit of its growth strategy,” he said.

The Barclays Africa Group is set to rebrand to Absa Group Ltd.

This will see the Barclays brand disappear from the Kenyan market in about two years following the sale of Barclays Plc’s stake in the Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa Group.