MTN Nigeria Communications (MTN Nigeria) has announced the listing of its N110 billion Series 1 Senior Unsecured Fixed Rate Bond on the platform of FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited. The announcement is coming after the Board Listings and Markets Committee of the Securities Exchange had approved the listing of the bond.
The recent offering which is part of MTN Nigeria’s N200 billion bond issuance programme, received massive interest from about two hundred investors and was oversubscribed.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Karl Toriola, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria.
Commenting on the recent development, Mr. Toriola said: “We are very proud of this landmark transaction, which is the first ever telecommunication bond issued in Nigeria and the largest corporate bond issuance in 2021.
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“The Nigerian debt capital market has given us the opportunity to diversify our funding sources further and enabled us to extend the maturities of our debt portfolio to match infrastructure investments.
“Investors’ strong support for this transaction, given the challenging economic environment, is a reflection of their confidence in MTN Nigeria’s long-term strategy, the management team, the depth of the market, and the overall growth in the telecommunications industry, and we do appreciate the support.”
Commenting on the other hand, the Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited, who acted as sponsor of the bond and a Registration Member (Listings) of the Exchange, Mr Bolaji Balogun, stated that: “The firm is honoured to have led the successful Series 1 bond issuance of N110 billion working with the six joint Issuing Houses.
“The Series 1 bond was oversubscribed and strongly supported by robust demand from over two hundred (200) investors, which included Pension Funds & Asset Managers, Banks, Family Offices and High Net worth Individuals.
“This issuance is the largest corporate debt transaction this year and its success demonstrates MTN Nigeria’s strong credit profile, leading position in the market as well as its long-term prospects,” he added.
According to FMDQ Exchange, the admission of the Bond is reflective of the potential of the Nigerian DCM and the commendable level of confidence demonstrated by both issuer and investors, and also validates the efficient processes and integrated systems through which FMDQ Group has sustained its service delivery to the market and its diverse stakeholders.
