The corporate and investment banking division of Absa Bank Limited, part of Barclays, has raised ZAR1.16bn ($116m) for insurance group Sanlam Life Insurance through a subordinated bond issue in South Africa.
The bond, which will be callable after a period of five years, has been issued with a 10-year maturity and is expected to pay a fixed coupon of 8.70% semi-annually.
"To raise an amount of this size at attractive pricing levels is a resounding success and comes on the back of our ability to effectively leverage both Barclays' global and Absa's domestic knowledge of relevant regulations and capital markets to structure tailored but market-appropriate financing solutions," said Prasanna Nana, head of debt capital markets at Absa.
The terms of the bond comply with the expected solvency assessment and management regime guidelines that will come into effect in 2016. The transaction marks Sanlam's return to the ZAR capital markets since its first issuance in 2006.
Sanlam achieved a high quality and diverse order book with ZAR1.675bn ($164m) of orders, comprising a broad range of local investors with approximately 95% of them allocated in the bond. Absa acted as co-lead arranger for the subordinated bond.