Leading pan-African technology solutions group, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, today announces the signing of new facilities to refinance its South African Rand term loan on a multi-tenor basis.
The new South African Rand facilities for USD 220 million equivalent are comprised of 3-, 5- and 7-year tranches with bullet and amortising elements. The loan has capital repayment grace periods of 18 and 24 months. Initially, approximately USD 150 million will be drawn to re-finance the existing ZAR term loan, with the remainder unlocked on receipt of a further capital injection into the Group. The facilities are expected to close following satisfaction of customary conditions precedent.
Lorraine Harper, Group Chief Financial Officer said:
“We are pleased that today we are announcing a strengthening of our balance sheet with the refinance of our South African Rand term loan. This is the first major milestone of our debt refinance programme that we set out in June. The multi-tenor nature of this ZAR facility delivers on our key priorities by creating a staggered maturity profile and providing better correlation between our earnings and liabilities.”
Hardy Pemhiwa, Group Chief Executive Officer said:
“As we look ahead to the refinancing of our bond in 2025, we are encouraged that we are on track with the plan we laid out earlier in the year. I am delighted that the signing of this refinancing has enabled the signing and closing of the first tranche of new equity of USD 90 million into Cassava Technologies, with the majority of this capital flowing into the bond perimeter.”
Liquid’s ZAR term loan refinancing was led by Standard Bank (SB), Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Nedbank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Next scheduled announcement: The Group is scheduled to publish its Q3 FY 2024-25 results in January 2025.
