AFRICA: ABSA BANK LIMITED REFINANCES AND UPSIZES HARMONY GOLD LIMITED’S EXISTING TERM DEBT FACILITY

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 18, 2017/ -- Absa Bank (www.Absa.co.za) has successfully refinanced and upsized Harmony Gold Limited’s existing USD 250,000,000 Term Debt to a 3 year USD 350,000,000 facility. Absa Bank acted as Bookrunner, Co-ordinator and Mandated Lead Arranger.

The transaction was oversubscribed with the debt syndicated to a total of 8 Lenders, including 3 new Lenders. This allowed Harmony to broaden its banking group, bolster liquidity and achieve its global growth ambitions. Absa Bank is the largest lender in the new Term Debt which further cements their position as one of Harmony’s core relationship banks.

An oversubscription on Harmony’s debt raising is a fantastic result for Harmony. Bank liquidity has strengthened for the mining sector despite a challenging operating environment given the local policy uncertainty, so the oversubscription talks to the depth of Harmony’s bank relationships and the right market read on transaction price and structure.

Harmony’s previous facility was set to mature early in 2018, and the gold mining company was looking to refinance its existing facility to allow it to expand its scope to fund its capital expenditure and growth plans in both South Africa and Papua New Guinea.

Ultimately, this transaction is a demonstration of how Absa partners with clients to help them realise their growth ambitions. The bank is able to deliver on its mandate and has the capability to sell syndicated facilities to local and international financial markets. Most importantly, it also indicates that there is still investment appetite for South African mining companies from offshore investors. 

Distributed by APO on behalf of Barclays Africa Group.

For further information, please contact:
Calvin Mashigo
Absa Group Media Relations
011 350 4663
076 400 9349
Calvin.Mashigo@BarclaysAfrica.com
PRmedia@Absa.co.za

About Absa:
Absa Bank Limited (Absa Bank) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest financial services groups. Absa offers a range of retail, business, corporate and investment banking and wealth management products and services primarily in South Africa and Namibia.
Barclays Africa is 23.4% owned by Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays). We operate in 12 countries with about 40 thousand permanent employees and we serve close to 12 million customers.
For further information about Barclays Africa, please visit our website www.BarclaysAfrica.com.

SOURCE
Barclays Africa Group