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By Chinwendu Obienyi, Lagos
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has announced that Dangote Cement Plc listed three N50 billion tranches of bonds under the N300bn Debt Issuance Programme.
In a statement obtained from the NGX, the bonds are 3.64 million units of a three-year 11.25 per cent senior unsecured fixed-rate bond due 2024; 10.45 million units of a five-year unsecured fixed-rate bond due 2026; and a seven-year 13.50 per cent senior unsecured fixed-rate bond due 2028.
The exchange revealed that the bonds were issued on May 26 by Dangote Cement and brokered by Meristem Securities while adding that the bonds could be acquired at par N1000 per unit of the bond and would mature in May of the last year of tenor as applicable to each bond.
The NGX had in 2020 listed Dangote Cement Plc’s N100 billion, 5 years 12.50 per cent fixed rate series 1 senior unsecured bonds due 2025 under the N300bn debt issuance programme.
The company said the transaction enabled it to lower its average cost of debt and extend the average maturity of its debt.
Commenting on the issuance, the Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, Michel Puchercos, while commenting on the bond issuance, said, the landmark transaction is the largest ever bond issuance by a corporate issuer in Nigeria.
‘It allows us to further broad¬en our sources of funding by accessing long-term debt at competitive costs from the capital market and builds further on the success of our domestic commercial paper programme.
‘The success of this transaction, in the current challenging environment, illustrates investors’ continuous confidence in Dangote Cement’s strategy, strong cash generation and solid credit profile,’ he had said.
