Liquid Telecom Raises $840 Million for Expansion and Refinancing Debt

Africa’s largest fibre network provider, Liquid Telecom Ltd., majority owned by the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Econet Group, Strive Masiyiwa, raised $840 million in a bond and loans to refinance debt and expand further into Africa.

The fundraising of the $840 million was conducted by joint book-runners JPMorgan Chase & Co., Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd., Liquid Chief Financial Officer Kate Hennessy said Thursday by email. The offering was 5.5 times oversubscribed, she said.

“The level of interest from high-quality investors has been unprecedented for an African issuer and reflects an excess of 220 investor orders. The order book shows the confidence that investors have in the future growth strategy for the group.”

The financing includes a $620 million bond and $220 million in loans, making it one of the largest dollar bond sales by an African telecoms company. The International Finance Corp., which estimates the continent’s digital economy will be worth $180 billion by 2025, invested $100 million in the bond.

Liquid has installed more than 70,000 kilometers (43,500 miles) of fiber across Africa. It operates five data centers in South Africa, Kenya, and Rwanda. Demand for higher-speed internet links and data storage is increasing on the continent as hundreds of millions of people get connected, mostly using their mobile phones.

Last year Liquid raised US$307 million from shareholders to expand its data centre business and the new money includes an additional US$40 million equity investment from the CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution. This is CDC’s second investment in Liquid, after a US$180 million equity investment in 2018, which gave CDC a 10% stake in Liquid.

The bond was listed on the Euronext Dublin exchange on Thursday, according to the IFC. The proceeds will be used to pay existing debt and to increase access to broadband services, the company said.