Nigeria’s latest Eurobond offer has been oversubscribed at $9.1 billion, marking the country’s successful return to the international bond market after a two-year hiatus.
The West African country raised $2.2 billion with its first Eurobond sale since February 2022 amid oversubscription.
The new development signals a possible rise in investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy.
“Nigeria is pleased to have attracted a wide range of investors from multiple jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and participation from Nigerian investors, which it views as an expression of continued investor confidence in the country’s sound macro-economic policy framework and prudent fiscal and monetary management,” the debt office said in a statement Monday.
The transaction attracted a peak orderbook of more than $9.0 billion, it added, noting that this underscores the strong support for the transaction across geography and investor class.
The demand came from a combination of Fund Managers, Insurance and Pension Funds, Hedge Funds, Banks and other Financial Institutions.
Commenting on the successful pricing, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun, said the development signposts increasing confidence in ongoing efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration to stabilise the Nigerian economy and position it on the path of sustainable and inclusive growth for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“The broad range of investor appetite to invest in our Eurobonds is encouraging as we continue to diversify our funding sources and deepen our engagement with the international capital markets,” he added.
According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, “This outcome underscores the growing confidence of investors and the resilience of the Nigeria credit, and evidence of our improved liquidity position and continued access to international markets to support the financing needs of the government.”
On her part, the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, said:
“With the successful pricing of the Notes on intra-day basis, Nigeria has registered a landmark achievement in the international capital market. The size of the Orderbook at approximately 4.18x of the offer amount, and the strong and diverse investor base helped to price the new 6.5-yr at 9.625 per cent, while new 10-year Notes was priced at 10.375 per cent. The DMO remains committed to maintaining transparency and open communication with investors and stakeholders and appreciates the continued confidence and support of the international and Nigerian investors who participated in the pricing.”
The Notes will be admitted to the official list of the UK Listing Authority and available to trade on the London Stock Exchange’s regulated market, the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited and the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The proceeds from this Eurobond issuance will be used to finance the 2024 fiscal deficit and support the government’s budgetary needs.
Nigeria mandated Chapel Hill Denham, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank as Joint Bookrunners. FSDH Merchant Bank Limited acted as financial adviser on the issuance.
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