Equites Property Fund has raised R1 billion in the debt capital market through the first public auction off its JSE-listed Domestic Multi-Term Note (DMTN) Programme of one-year and three-year senior unsecured floating rate notes.
Equites elected to issue R420 million in the one-year note at a clearing rate of three-month JIBAR plus 120 bps and R580 million in the three-year note at a clearing spread of three-month JIBAR plus 145 bps.
“The outstanding result of the auction speaks volumes about the recent performance of the group”, commented Equites CEO, Andrea Taverna-Turisan.
Equites was looking to raise R750 million with the option to upsize to R1 billion with price guidance for the one-year and three-year notes of 125 – 135 basis points and 150 – 160 basis points, which is reflective of a recent credit rating upgrade to AA-(ZA) on the 19th of August 2021 from GCR Ratings and positive investor sentiment.
Over R2.8 billion of bids were received in the auction during the morning of the 9th of November 2021, which was conducted by Nedbank’s DCM team, with a bid to cover ratio of 3.5 times on the three-year note and 16 bidders participating in the three-year note alone.
Warren Douglas, Head of Treasury for Equites: “This auction proves that the DCM market rewards high-quality credit with both notes clearing 5 basis points through the lower end of price guidance. Our regular engagement with debt and equity investors is key to the growth of our business, and it is through these strong relationships with the investor community that Equites can continue to grow from strength to strength”.
Taverna-Turisan, added: “It is really pleasing to see the interest in Equites from the South African debt capital market investors, and the outstanding result of our first auction speaks volumes about the recent performance of the group.”
