Templars advises Lagos State on N47 billion Bond Offering

The proceeds of the bond will be used to fund improvements in the physical and social infrastructure base of the State, which is Nigeria’s economic centre and arguably its most populous State.

The transaction is significant in many respects including in terms of the record-high level of investor appetite it attracted, the very favourable coupon rate at which the bonds were issued and the fact that it was the one and only offering by a Nigerian State government in all of 2016.

At the signing ceremony for the offering held in Lagos on 30 December, 2016, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode stated that “Despite the continued challenges in the economy and difficult market conditions which have seen the last three Federal Government Bond auctions under-subscribed by an average 32%, [Lagos State] has sold an estimated 80% of the bonds it offered at a 57 basis points spread to the sovereign.”

The Templars team that advised Lagos State on the transaction was led by finance partners Chike Obianwu and Zelda Akindele.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Obianwu said “Templars is delighted to have advised the Lagos State Government on this most important transaction, which once again confirms the firm’s leadership position as an adviser in the Nigerian capital markets space. In what has been a particularly difficult year for the Nigerian economy and Nigerian issuers, Templars has managed to act not just for the issuer of the only State Government bond to be issued in the year but also for IHS Towers as the issuer of an US$800 million Eurobond, which was one of only two Eurobond issuances of the year 2016 by Nigerian-based issuers.”