Stanbic Bank Uganda and CfC Stanbic Kenya, subsidiaries of Standard Bank Group, have completed the first ever Accelerated Bookbuild (ABB) on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) followed by an offer to management and retail investors.
Stanbic advised Actis, a UK-based private equity firm, on the offer, which involved a sale of a 45 per cent stake in Umeme Limited, an electricity distributor listed on both the USE and NSE.
The ABB is the first ever cross-market trade between the USE and NSE.
Stanbic acted as the sole global co-ordinator, lead transaction advisor and joint bookrunner for the transaction.
The ABB raised UGX215.6bn (USD85.5m), and saw strong demand from international and East African investors, such as Investec and Uganda's state-run pension fund, National Social Security Fund (NSSF). The management and retail offer raised UGX33.8bn (USD13.4m) supported by significant interest from retail investors. As such, Actis has raised UGX249.4bn (USD98.9m) through the offer with USD92.3m placed via the USE and USD6.6m placed via the NSE.
This transaction is the latest for Standard Bank’s ECM franchise in 2014, and follows the recent successful close of SEPLAT’s USD535m market-first dual listing on the Nigerian and London Stock Exchange, and Copperbelt Energy Corporate Plc’s USD70m rights offer, the second largest ever equity transaction in Zamibia.
Simon Matthews, head of ECM, Standard Bank, says: “The Accelerated Bookbuild for Actis’ sale of a stake in Umeme was highly successful and the first of its kind. We are seeing significant appetite from both institutional African investors and international investors who are keen to tap into the opportunity in these increasingly sophisticated, and liquid markets, this was evident in the strong demand seen across markets for the transaction.
“In order to ensure a successful transaction, we worked closely with regulators in Uganda and Kenya, harmonising processes in the USE and NSE and ensuring the Accelerated Bookbuild captured liquidity in both exchanges.”
Patrick Mweheire, head of CIB, Stanbic Bank Uganda, says: “The successful take-up of UGX233bn (USD92.3m) worth of shares on the USE further validates the deepening of Uganda's capital markets and the broad appeal of the Umeme story across all investor classes."
In total, Actis has divested an 85 per cent stake in Umeme. The firm divested a c.40 per cent stake by way of an IPO in November 2012, where Stanbic acted as the lead transaction advisor and bookrunner, and has now divested 45 per cent via the ABB.
