The number of corporate bonds listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) increased to 12 last week as the N8.010 billion Dana Group Plc Bond  was admitted on the  Exchange’s Daily  Official List.

The bond, which  has  interest rate of  Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) plus 7 per cent and maturity date of December 2018,   is part of the N36 billion Debt Issuance Programme  of the company.

Dana Group has established itself as an integral part of the Nigerian economy with an integrated commercial, industrial and service-orientated organisation, positioning itself as one of the leading business houses in Nigeria.

The Group comprises  a diverse range of strategically positioned operating subsidiaries and associate companies with a manufacturing base, structured to  give the Group  the flexibility and versatility to keep ahead of local competition while keeping pace with the ever-evolving global business scenario.

The company operates in the sectors of the Nigerian economy include: air/automotive; chemical, electronics, instant foods, paper, pharmaceutical, plastics, rice and steel.

The debt issuance programme , which is  to provide additional capital to boost the  operations of Dana Group, has Dunn Loren Merrified (DLM) Limited  as the financial adviser, issuing house and lead book runner.

DLM  has equally assisted Chellarams  Plc and  Tower Aluminium Group to raise similar capital. The recent one was the N4.63 billion bond  by Tower Aluminium under a N9 billion Medium Term Note(MTN) programme.

The N9 billion MTN programme is undertaken by Tower Funding Plc, which is  a captive finance vehicle for the Tower Aluminium Group. Documents  of the offer showed that  the Series 1 bond issuance has two tranches. The first tranche was N3.63billion floating rate bond  with a coupon of Monetary Policy  Rate (MPR) plus 7 per cent )  due September 9, 2018  and  N1 billion  bond with a coupon of MPR  plus 5.25 per cent  due  September 9, 2018.All the bonds were issued at a N1,000 per unit.

According to  the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of DML,  Mr. Sonnie Ayere, the proceeds of the bond would be  applied towards the funding of  the member companies of the Tower Aluminium Group comprising: Tower Aluminium (Nigeria)Plc; Queensway Aluminium Limited; Asaba Aluminium Limited; Tower Roofing Systems Limited; Borno Aluminium Limited and Kolorkote Nigeria Limited.

“The rich history of the Tower Aluminium Group spanning over 50 years in Nigeria contributed in no small measure to the success of the Series 1 bond issuance,” Ayere  had said.

Ayere noted that  the bond  was the first internationally  guaranteed  bond by a real sector corporate entity in Nigeria. The guarantee was given by GuarantCo Limited, a development finance institution regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius with the key objectives of encouraging private sector involvement in the local currency financing of infrastructure projects and promoting local capital market development in low-income countries.

Source: ThisDay/Goddy Egene