Port-Louis, Mauritius, July 4 2019 – The Bank is pleased to announce the secondary listing of its benchmark 2024 USD-denominated Eurobond on the Stock Market of Mauritius (SEM), a first for an African Eurobond issuer for SEM, thanks to which, Mauritian investors will be able to access the global Eurobond market through their own stock market. The secondary notes are issued under TDB’s USD 2bn Euro Medium Term Note Program.
With a rare negative new issue premium – a remarkable achievement given the current rising interest rate environment – TDB’s senior unsecured 5-year USD 500mn Eurobond issued this past May 16th, was TDB’s lowest-cost-ever global Eurobond. The bond was oversubscribed 3.3 times, closing with an order book of USD 1.65bn, with a reoffer yield of 5.000% and a 4.875% coupon. The Notes were admitted to the Official List on the Main Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) in Dublin on the 23rd of May 2019.
“TDB is delighted with its secondary listing on SEM, with which, it will be able to contribute to the development of Mauritius’ financial sector, and to continue raising the profile of African capital markets” says Admassu Tadesse, TDB President and Chief Executive.
Sunil Benimadhu, Chief Executive of The Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) said: “we welcome TDB’s initiative to list the first Eurobond on the SEM. This landmark listing adds a new dimension to SEM’s internationalization strategy and confirms the SEM’s attractiveness as a listing platform for African issuers.”
The SEM is the only exchange in Africa, and one of the few exchanges worldwide, that can list, trade and settle securities of an issuer in multiple currencies, USD, EUR, GBP, ZAR and Rs, as well as trade and settle transactions in the issuer’s securities in those five currencies. This provides a natural hedge against currency risks and eliminates currency conversion costs – rendering the SEM very attractive to both international issuers and investors.
In addition to SEM’s flexible provisions with regards to secondary listings and the fungibility of traded securities, TDB will be able to benefit from the stock exchange’s diversified range of products and platforms to raise new capital. Over USD 5bn has been raised by international issuers on the SEM, and 200+ securities are listed on SEM.
TDB has a successful track record of issuing bonds within Africa and other international markets. Its previous issuances in the Eurobond market date back to 2010, 2013 and 2017, the last one of which gained the Bank entry to the JP Morgan Index of EM Bonds. In Africa, some of TDB’s latest capital market issuances in local currencies include a TZS 32.6bn facility in Tanzania, a UGX 15bn bond in Uganda; and, a KES 1bn bond.
In addition to improving countries’ current account balances and overall, their capacity to respond to shocks, well-developed bond markets increase countries’ abilities to withstand global capital flows, reduce forex risks, and, with intensified international participation, to maintain sound fiscal and monetary policies, and stable political environments.
According to Barclays’ Africa Financial Markets Index, Mauritius is ranked second after South Africa on displaying openness for capital markets and direct investment. Both TDB and Mauritius have been rated by credit agencies as investment grade.
