Britam Kshs. 6bn bond starts trading...

By Elisha Kamau

Britam’s Kshs. 6 billion bond has started trading at the Nairobi bourse with the proceeds expected to fund local and regional expansion, property development and increase investment in private equity.

The medium term note that was launched in mid June 2014 targeting retail, high net worth and institutional investors, received a 144 per cent over-subscription netting  Kshs. 7.323 billion.

The first tranche was to raise Kshs.3 billion and had a green shoe option for an additional Kshs. 3 billion as per the Supplementary Information Memorandum approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

As a result of the over- subscription, Britam exercised the green shoe option to retain the full amount of Kshs. 6 billion.

 “We are happy to note that the bond market has opened up and that Britam has taken this up successfully as one of the ways to raise funds. We encourage other players in the industry to also take up such opportunities so that we build our bond market,” noted Britam Board Chairperson, Dr. Amb. Francis Muthaura.

Dr. Amb. Muthaura added that: “We are also happy that we have joined companies that have successfully listed their bonds at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. At this stage, we continue to play a big role in the financial sector.”

Commenting at the NSE offices, NSE Chief Executive Officer, Peter Mwangi noted that “It’s good to see that there is a growing interest in the bond market in the country. In the last one year, we have seen various organizations take on bonds as ways to raise funds including Shelter Afrique, I&M Bank and now Britam.”

Also speaking at the bell ringing ceremony, Britam Group Managing Director, Dr. Benson Wareigi noted that: “We wish to thank CMA,NSE and transactional advisors for their support throughout the process without who we would not have made it this far.”

The process was led by Dyer and Blair Investment Bank as the transaction advisors, PwC - the reporting accountants, Coulson Harney – legal advisors, Image Registrars – registrars and Equity Bank- the receiving bank.