STANBIC IBTC, DANGOTE CEMENT ISSUE NIGERIA’S LARGEST COMMERCIAL PAPER

LAGOS, Nigeria – Stanbic IBTC Capital and Stanbic IBTC Bank, subsidiaries of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, have partnered with Dangote Cement PLC, Africa’s largest cement producer, to announce the issuance of the N50 billion Series 1 and 2 Notes, the largest ever Commercial Paper (CP) issuance by a Nigerian company, under the recently established Dangote Cement PLC’s N150 billion CP Programme, announced on 27 June 2018. Reflective of Dangote Cement’s top notch ratings (Aaa/AA+ by Moody’s/GCR), the Series 1 and 2 notes priced at thin spreads of 25 and 50 basis points over the chosen primary market Sovereign benchmark rate, to achieve discount rates of 12.40% and 12.65% respectively.  

 

Stanbic IBTC Capital acted as sole Arranger of the CP Programme while Stanbic IBTC Bank is the Issuing, Calculation and Paying Agent on the transaction. The Series 1 and 2 Notes will be listed on Nigeria’s FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange on Thursday 19 July 2018. Funds raised in the CP Programme are expected to be used for capital expenditure, working capital and general corporate purposes, according to parties to the deal.

 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, which held at Dangote Cement PLC headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday 3 July 2018, Kobby Bentsi-Enchill, the Executive Director and Head, Debt Capital Markets, Stanbic IBTC Capital, expressed delight that Stanbic IBTC Capital advised Dangote Cement to accomplish this landmark CP issuance. According to Mr Bentsi-Enchill, Stanbic IBTC Capital is committed, in line with the Stanbic IBTC Group’s value proposition and investment banking pedigree, to assist businesses with high-quality advisory and arranging services that would enhance their growth and expansion prospects by providing access to a diverse range of financing options within the domestic capital markets.

 

“Stanbic IBTC Capital will continue to exploit opportunities to help provide businesses with access to critical funding, short and long term, for their needs. This, we expect, will help stimulate growth via the mobilisation of debt and equity capital market instruments,” Bentsi-Enchill said. “We will continue to leverage our excellent investment banking pedigree as well as the strength of our franchise in the Standard Bank Group, the largest financial institution in Africa, to consummate such big-ticket deals that will not only help businesses grow but also help deepen our markets, even as we tap into government’s industrialisation drive,” Bentsi-Enchill added.

 

The Group Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement PLC, Engineer Joseph Oyeyani Makoju, said the choice of Stanbic IBTC as a partner in the CP Programme was an easy one considering the financial institution’s strong pedigree and expertise in investment banking.

 

On the issuance, Makoju stated: “This landmark transaction is the largest-ever Commercial Paper issuance by a corporate issuer in Nigeria. It allows us to broaden our sources of funding and combine established bank lines of credit with access to capital market funding, which will lower our overall cost of borrowing.”  Makoju added: “The success of this programme reflects the high quality of our business and its strong cash generation, made possible by our market-leading positions in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa, where demand for cement is growing rapidly.”

 

The establishment of the Dangote Cement PLC Commercial Paper Programme is another testament to Stanbic IBTC Capital’s industry leadership in investment banking, issuing house and financial advisory services. The company has played a pivotal role in the resurgence of commercial paper in Nigeria following the release of guidelines on the issuance of the corporate debt financing solution by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Dangote Cement was advised by Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited as sole Arranger and Dealer, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC as Issuing Calculation and Paying Agent, Banwo & Ighodalo as Legal Counsel and Deloitte & Touche as Auditors to the Issuer.

 

Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC. Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank Group, is a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets and market capitalization. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent. Standard Bank has been in operation for over 155 years and is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground financial services institutions in chosen countries in Africa; and connecting selected emerging markets to Africa by applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, power and infrastructure.