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The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (“Côte d’Ivoire” or the “Republic”) (rated B1 (positive outlook) by Moody’s and B (positive outlook) by Fitch), today successfully priced a landmark debut USD 750 million 10-year 144A/Reg S bond at a re-offer yield of 5.625% p.a. (equivalent to a coupon of 5.375% and a spread of 298 bps over 10Y USD Mid-Swaps) maturing in July 2024.
Following the transaction announcement on July 8th, the Republic, represented by H.E. Daniel Kablan Duncan, Prime Minister, Minister of Economy, Finances and Budget, H.E. Nialé Kaba, Minister to Prime Minister, in charge of Economy and Finances, H.E. Abdourahmane Cissé, Minister to the Prime Minister, in charge of Budget, and H.E. Patrick Achi, Minister of Economic Infrastructures, conducted a series of investor meetings targeting key emerging markets investors across Europe and the US.
The offering attracted very strong demand from a diversified global investor base. The oversubscribed orderbook attracted interest from 180 accounts.
The orderbook and final allocation was well-balanced both by geography (the US accounted for c.50%, the UK for c.39%, the rest of Europe c.9%, and c.2% for the rest of the world) and investor type (with final allocation of c.92% to Fund Managers and c.8% to other types of investors). This transaction represents the Republic’s inaugural international offering on the primary capital markets.
H.E. Nialé Kaba, Minister to Prime Minister, in charge of Economy and Finances, commented the transaction:
“We are delighted by the tremendous response we received from the international investor community. The very high quality of the order book and the level of oversubscription are a clear testimony in the renaissance of Côte d’Ivoire and highlight investors’ strong confidence in the bright perspectives for growth and prosperity of our economy.”
BNP Paribas, Citi and Deutsche Bank acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the issuance. BMCE/BOA acted as financial advisor to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
