Real People Kshs 1.63 bn bond starts trading at Nairobi bourse

Real People’s Kshs. 1.63 billion bond has today started trading at the Nairobi bourse with the proceeds expected to further boost the company’s lending capacity. 

The medium term note that was launched in early August 2015 targeting retail, high net worth individuals and institutional investors saw investors take up Kshs 1,363,900,000 in 5 year Fixed Rate Notes and Kshs 270,300,000 in 3 year Fixed Rate Notes .

The first tranche under the Kshs 5 billion programme was offered in 3 year and 5 year Fixed Rate Note as per the Information Memorandum approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

“This is a significant milestone as a financial institution. We are happy to be the first credit only financial institution to have successfully gone through the entire bond process and have the Notes listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange,” noted Daniel Ohonde, Chief Executive Officer, Real People East Africa.

He added: “At this stage, we continue to grow and play a big role in the financial sector. We wish to thank CMA, Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and our transactional advisors – NIC Capital for their support throughout the process.”

Speaking at the Ceremony, NSE Chief Executive Mr. Geoffrey Odundo congratulated Real People saying that “The high uptake of the Real People Bond from local investors is testament of Kenyans’ confidence in the Real People growth strategy and a clear indication of Kenyan companies great confidence in the fund raising opportunities that our Capital Markets have to offer. We at the Exchange applaud Real People Kenya Limited on the successful listing of their Bond.”

Mr. Odundo further elaborated that listing on the bourse enables an institution to improve their liquidity, unlock their value, enhance their company profile, raise their governance standards while maximizing value for their shareholders. He urged corporates to look no further than the Exchange, as they seek to raise capital to fund their various initiatives.

The bond process was led by NIC Capital as the transaction advisors, PKF, the reporting accountants, Coulson Harney, as the legal advisors, NIC Bank as the registrar and the receiving bank.

Real People launches Kshs 2.5 billion bond

Real People, a credit only Micro-Finance Institution has today formally launched a Kshs. 2.5 billion, five-year public bond.  The issue is the first tranche of a Kshs.5 billion Medium Term Notes issue, which will be used to boost the company’s lending capacity as demand for its credit facilities increases.  

The bond offers both three and five year fixed and floating rate notes.

The positive market reception has been quite encouraging and clearly demonstrates increased local investor confidence in Real People’s long-term value proposition,” said Real People, Chief Executive Officer for East Africa, Mr. Daniel Ohonde.”

“We have experienced exponential growth in our loan book over the past three to four years thus the need to source for funds to sustain this growth momentum in the long term,” said Mr. Ohonde. 

Starting from 2006, Real People has registered double digit growth in both client base and size of the loan book which currently stands at 13000 active customers and a gross loan book of 2.5 B.  

“Our impressive performance can be attributed to our deep market understanding and development of products that respond to the needs of our target segment,” he said.

He said the issuance of the bond also reflects the company’s desire to focus on long-term local funding solutions for the provision of affordable credit facilities in Kenya, adding that short-term and external sources of funds had an impact on the cost of credit.

“There is a growing need for viable options for funding credit facilities, against the backdrop of a growing demand for such facilities,” he said.

Real People which is currently the largest credit-only Micro Finance Institution (MFI) in Kenya – holding the largest loan book amongst its peers – has over its six years of experience lent over Ksh10 billion to over 25,000 SME’s. The company becomes the first credit-only MFI in Kenya to issue a public bond.

The offer closes on August 3^rd, 2015 and the listing on the Fixed Income Securities Market Segment of the Nairobi Security Exchange is expected on August 19^th, 2015.