Equites Property Fund has raised R1.25 billion in the South African debt capital market in a recent public auction of one-year, three-year, and five-year senior unsecured floating rate notes. The REIT elected to issue R385 million in the one-year note at a clearing rate of three-month JIBAR plus 108 bps, R447 million in the three-year note at a clearing spread of three-month JIBAR plus 146 bps, and R418 million in the five-year note at a clearing spread of three-month JIBAR plus 159 bps.
“The excellent result of this, our second public debt auction, is a further indication of the strong support that Equites receives from capital markets,” commented Andrea Taverna-Turisan, CEO of Equites.
Equites was looking to raise R1 billion, with the option to upsize to R1.25 billion, off its JSE-listed DMTN Programme, and received R2.34 billion of bids from 21 different bidders across the three notes in the auction conducted by Standard Bank. The three-year and five-year notes cleared in the mid of price guidance and the one-year note cleared below the price guidance of 110-120 bps. The strong pricing of Equites’ debt is reflective of positive investor sentiment and a recent credit rating outlook upgrade to Positive on its AA-(ZA) rating from GCR Ratings on the 30th of August 2022.
Warren Douglas, Treasurer for Equites, says: “Prior to the auction, Equites embarked on a deal roadshow to engage with investors, the success of which is evidenced by the continued diversification and increase in the debt capital market investor base with 29 financial institutions invested in Equites’ listed debt. Our regular engagement with debt and equity investors is key to the growth of our business, and it is through these deep relationships with the investor community that Equites continues to grow from strength to strength.”
