South Africa’s third mobile operator Cell C would “wait and see” before it went ahead with the issuance of €625-million (about R5-billion) worth of high yield bonds, adviser to the unlisted company’s CEO Jonathan Newman said on Monday.
He stated that although there were signs that the market was improving, the Saudi-backed operator had decided to wait until the bond market stabilised, adding that some companies had also put high yield bonds issuance on hold.
Considering that the indebted mobile network wanted liquidity to pick up first, Newman said it had decided not to put a timeframe on when it would eventually list the bonds on the Irish Stock Exchange — a move that was expected earlier this month.
The placement comprises a senior secured bond worth €350-million and a senior subordinated note at €275-million. Proceeds from the private offering will refinance Cell C’s existing indebtedness and settle some unspecified shareholder loans.
Meanwhile, plans by Cell C’s 40%-shareholder CellSaf to transfer a portion of is slice to Rashid Engineering subsidiary Lanum Securities of Saudi Arabia are in progress. The local Competition Tribunal last week OK’d the proposed deal in which Lanum is set to pay $180-million (R1,1-billion) for a 15% stake in Cell C.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa will in June or July decide whether to approve the deal that will lead to the black-held CellSaf’s holding reduced to 25%. – I-Net Bridge