Foremost Payments company, Interswitch has raised 23 billion Naira through the issuance of a 23 billion Naira Series 1 Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Callable Bond via a Special Purpose Vehicle, Interswitch Africa One PLC. This is part of N30 billion debt issuance programme registered with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The funds raised will be used for the development of office premises, payment service bank license fees and general corporate purposes.
The Series 1 Issue priced at 15% was 2.6x subscribed. The 7-year Bonds, embedding a call option that can only be exercised from the second year, are payable in full at maturity. An application will be made to list the Bonds on The Nigerian Stock Exchange on receipt of the SEC’s approval of the proposed allotments.
Investor participation was restricted to qualified institutional investors as defined by the SEC in Nigeria, with a proposed Bonds allocation of 64% to pension fund managers, 7% to asset managers and 22% to commercial banks pending SEC approval. The strong level of over subscription demonstrated investor confidence in the Interswitch brand, business model and long-term strategy, supported by strong domestic ratings from both Agusto & Co. Limited (“Agusto”) and Moody’s Investor Service (“Moody’s”).
The Founder and CEO, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, commented: “We are delighted to report the success of the first series of Bonds issued under our Programme, especially with the level of interest shown by investors. Diversifying our funding sources through the inclusion of these Bonds will enable us achieve our strategic objectives and vision.”
Recently one of the company’s businesses, Verve partnered with Discover Global Network to extend its acceptance to more than 190 countries and territories globally.
