The board of conglomerate giant, UAC of Nigeria Plc, on Wednesday announced the successful completion of what it termed a “very well received” ₦18.7bn Series 1 and 2 Commercial Paper issuance, its debut under the recently established ₦45bn CP Programme.
The CP Issuance, the group said in a statement to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, “attracted significant demand from a wide range of investors, including pension fund administrators, asset managers, insurance companies and high net-worth individuals.”
The CP Issuance, which was 3.8x subscribed, it noted, was part of the intra-group treasury arrangement to enable UAC and its subsidiaries meet short-term working capital requirements.
The issuance, which comprised two tenors – a 90-day Series 1 priced at 8.00% yield, and a 181-day Series 2 issuance priced at 8.25% yield, it said, “reflects the strong credit quality of the company and investors’ positive sentiment towards UAC’s operations and strategy.”
While Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited acted as Lead Arranger and Dealer to the CP Issuance; FCMB Capital Markets Limited was the Joint Dealer to the CP Issuance; and Banwo & Ighodalo, the Solicitors to the Transaction.
Commenting on the significance and success of the CP Issuance, Mrs. Funke Ijaiya-Oladipo, Group Finance Director of UAC, expressed delight at the successfully completion of its “our first CP Issuance in the Nigerian debt market.”
The CPs, which will be quoted on the FMDQ Exchange, she continued, “is truly a testament to our company’s strength, the sustainability of our Group’s brands and the trust displayed by the investing community. It is without doubt that the success of this issuance provides an avenue to optimize our funding cost while continuing to drive our strategic initiatives as an organization. We are pleased by the success of the CP Issuance and grateful to all parties involved in the transaction.”