Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the Lomé based parent company of the Ecobank Group has announced that it has successfully raised $350 million Tier 2 Sustainability Notes. This represents the first ever Tier 2 Sustainability Notes by a financial institution in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This Tier 2 issuance is the first to have a Basel III-compliant 10NC5 structure outside of South Africa in 144A/RegS format and will be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The bond, which matures in June 2031, has a call option in June 2026 and was issued with a coupon of 8.75% with interest payable semi-annually in arrears.
An equivalent amount of the net proceeds from the notes will be used by ETI to finance or re-finance new or existing eligible assets as described in ETI’s Sustainable Finance Framework on which DNV has issued a Second Party Opinion.
The bank said investor interest for this Sophomore Eurobond issue was global, including United Kingdom, United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, achieving a 3.6x oversubscribed orderbook, of over US$1.3 billion at its peak.
The transaction was anchored at the start by Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO), a Dutch development bank, with a committed US$50 million order.
Speaking on the importance of the funding, the group chief executive officer of ETI, Ade Ayeyemi said: “This is a landmark issue for Ecobank, and indeed the success of this first Sustainable Tier 2 issuance is testament to our clear strategy, solid positioning across the pan-African banking space as well as our deliberate and long term focus on sustainable initiatives.
“We are particularly pleased with the diverse orderbook which reflects the confidence investors have in Ecobank to deliver on our commitment to sustainable financing”. The Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners in the transaction were Citi, Mashreq, Renaissance Capital and Standard Chartered Bank.
